|
May 21, 2005, 8:00am: Twice around Forest Park! WOW!
| GOAL: |
12 miles |
|
|
| LOCATION: |
Forest Park, St. Louis, Missouri
|
| CONDITIONS: |
65° and sunny, some wind |
| RESULTS: |
12.5 miles |
TIME: 2:04:50
|
PACE: 9:59/mile
|
| TOTAL TRAINING MILES TO DATE (walking & running): 161 miles |
Analyzing My Mile Markers:
Now that I'm running over 10 miles during the weekend, I'm not sure how my body will take the distance running. I know what to expect around 5 miles...even 8 or 9. But what's going to happen between 10 and 12 miles? I've never ran that far. In all my times running, I can expect the following during the run:
Mile 1: Getting warmed up. Trying not to run too fast.
Miles 2-4: Drinking water, trying to adjust to sweating. I usually end up taking walk breaks.
Miles 5-8: In the zone! I'm hitting my pace, with no desire to take walk breaks and drinking in regular intervals. Slam down an energy pack. I can pick up my pace, and my body hardly notices.
Miles 9-10: Drinking a little more than before, steady runs, but slowing down the pace.
Miles 11-12: Steady pace and getting chills off and on.
The Run
Today our goal was to run around Forest Park twice. The weather was great, but the team could feel that it was going to warm up pretty quickly. I was surprisingly proud of my run. I took the hills without slowing down, and I kept an excellent pace. The shady parts of the trail were a big relief towards the ends of both laps. When I passed the Joints in Motion tent after the first lap, I had only used two of my four bottles of fluids, and I was on such a great pace, I didn't want to stop. So, I didn't fill up the two empties, and kept going. I had run about 9 miles non-stop during the 12-mile run. I had to walk off some pain on the arch of my right foot. Everytime it hit the asphalt, I was getting a feeling like a pinched nerve, and it felt like a large rock was under my arch. So, I walked it off for about 30 seconds, and it went away for the rest of the run.
After the Run
When I got home, I took off my shirt and noticed my nipples burning. They had bled from all the rubbing on the shirt! I stung a little bit, and luckily I was wearing a red shirt. I remember this happenening a few times when I used to run 5 miles a day back in 2002, so I wasn't surprised. I guess the 9 miles of non-stop running today did the trick.
Fundraising Goals Exceeded!
Today, I received 4 letters in the mail, which put me over the $3,000 goal! WOW! I'm so excited to be this far ahead in the fundraising. I'm actually the top fundraiser for the Joints in Motion team right now! THANK YOU ALL! If I can get $4,000 raised by the end of June, I'll be one happy trainer. Then, I can just concentrate on running.
| THOUGHTS: |
I ended the twice-around-Forest-Park run with a 9:59/mile pace, which is simply amazing. Just four weeks ago, I could barely run around Forest Park once. I'm totally ready for a half-marathon.
|
Back
|
|
|
