Run: 120 minutes of easy distance, hilly.
Distance: 12.5 miles
Time: 118:35
Performance Stats (out of 5 ★)
Legs: ★ ★ ★ .5
Gut: ★ ★ ★ .5
Energy: ★ ★ ★
Mind: ★ ★ ★
Overall: ★ ★ ★ .5
Soundtrack: Metallica, Death Magnetic and St. Anger
Tomorrow may be the first day of fall, but today certainly had the feel of summer about it. I officially dropped a run this past week - which made me feel terrible, but work and lack of sleep just led to it not happening. Catching up on sleep and the weekend's events made this week's distance run a little tricky. I managed to get out at about 10:30 this morning, which was nice, but a little more than I bargained for.
This was my longest run before the half marathon in a few weeks, and so I knew I was looking at about 12 miles. We had some rain earlier this morning, and I had to put the run off until a little later. There was actually some break in the clouds, and I made run for it, literally, at 10:30. The after effect of the rain was that it was quite humid, and the sun poked through the clouds several times, making the 74 degree weather seem pretty hot and steamy overall.
While tough and painful, it was actually a good set-up for the upcoming 13.1 miles. I certainly was dehydrated for the second half of the run, and I was able to experience the overwhelming occasional feeling of wanting to stop and take a break, and instead powering through it. I had a few moments of running in this weird fog where your brain is staying stop, but your legs keep going, and you really don't seem connected. Then there are those times you are just in a fog, and when you come to, you've cleared a mile. All great practice for what I hope to be a good showing in a few weeks.
Part of me wants to give it another go next weekend, and see how I do. Really, there is no point in shooting for a personal best on a training run. A lot of the lessons learned about why today may not have been the most optimal 12 miles will hopefully be learned for the upcoming race. And in the best news possible, no sign of injury, and we are starting our taper! I'm very interested to see how this all plays out!