Marathon Training, Week 2: 3 runs, 16 miles, On to Next Week

My speed? Lost.

My endurance? Never changed.

My perspective? Well, that changes from day to day - something I should remember. Especially considering that two really smart people told me to get some this weekend.

I slept from about 6:30pm yesterday until about 2am; got up to let the poor puppy out so he wouldn't be stuck in his crate until I woke up 12 hours later; hauled my ass out of bed at 6:30am and went on an 8-mile run. My first run of any distance greater than 5 miles since May. I thought I ran it in 1:47:10, or about 13.375 minutes/mile. I ran the OUC Half Marathon in 2006 at 12.5-minutes/mile, and my goal pace for this year's is 11-11.5, so 13.375 is a decent LSD pace. But when I calculated my route, it looks like I actually took about 1:56:23 to do the whole 8 miles, so that's 14.5 minutes/mile. I started walking too early because I thought I was already done and wanted to cool down.

Some things I forgot since I haven't run more than 5 miles in a while:

• Some times a slightly faster pace feels better. Stiffness and chafing seem to get worse at slower speeds.
• More than 5 miles feels like a long distance.
• Speaking of chafing, 8 miles is long enough for chafing to be a factor. Oops. Body Glide next time.
• Some times more than 30oz of beverage is needed. Drink early, drink often.
• Hats can cause headaches on longer runs, regardless of how loose they are.

That's about all. It was a nice, overcast, low-70s temp with a slight breeze.

Tomorrow: 3 miles and strength. Tuesday: 3 mi pace run. Wednesday: Rest. Thursday: LSD, I think about 11 miles. Friday: strength. Saturday: Rest. Sunday: 10k race.