It never amazes me what my body can do. I had to get up super early, well not really, for my run on Saturday. I knew that we were supposed to do 16 miles for our group C. Group A had to meet up at 6:15 and Group B at 6:30 and Group C at 6:45. I always think about the long runs and what the group is going to do and how fast we are going to go.
I thought today would be an easy run since it will be our longest to date. But not today, I guess the group leaders were ready and wanted to go. I feel that the beginning is always easier and I guess it gets easier as the more we run each week. At least I knew next week is a backdown week. I keep telling myself that I need to run each week more and more during the week to make these long ones seem easier. Between my visits to Rehab United and life in general, I can only really do 1 or 2 times a week of running. I want to get in 3 though.
So this morning was especially cold and maybe being at the coast was the good part. I thought to myself that I had to run through some hills but for the coaches, they said there weren’t any. They weren’t so bad I guess but for someone like myself but they seemed to come more often than not.
We were off to a fast start with a sub 9 min/mile time. We eventually got into our pace which was a 8:30 pace. I was running a 10k pace or 5k pace like this. I wasn’t used to it so much. I could have gotten lost in this run with so many turns. I was able to stay with the group and didn’t stray to far away. I think the last 3 miles got tough for me. There were some hills and the pace was tough. I started to cramp and I couldn’t keep up. I don’t know what was going on. I was just used to the way I always ran.
I was getting enough to drink I thought. I had enough salt and I had enough gels each way. There were 4 aid stations to the 8 mile marker and the same way back but I felt that I needed more. I was frustrated and at the end because the last 1.5 miles were the toughest. I had to walk and I didn’t feel that I was 100%. I was glad though that my foot wasn’t bothering me and it was my body and legs more. I knew it was tough and tried to push through and did.
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