Duke of the Internet
10 miles, DesPlaines River Trail. Oh, did I crash and burn the last two miles. Last week was my first 10 miler and I started out very conservative for the first half, then not quite so much so in the second have, finished strong, felt good. So I decided I wouldn't be so conservative this time, and about half way through mile six, I still felt good, so I stopped pulling myself back when I noticed the pace creeping up, because it still felt easy. Mistake. I died just into the 9th mile and by the beginning of the 10, I had dropped two minutes off the prior pace. I picked it up again a little in the last half mile, enough so that the 10th mile averaged out no worse than the 9th, but it was bad. Everything just hurts--so different from last week. Next week will be 10 again, but I'll go back to being more conservative for the first 8 miles. Last two, I'll pick it up if I can, but not until then.
10 miles, DesPlaines River Trail.
Oh, did I crash and burn the last two miles. Last week was my first 10 miler and I started out very conservative for the first half, then not quite so much so in the second have, finished strong, felt good. So I decided I wouldn't be so conservative this time, and about half way through mile six, I still felt good, so I stopped pulling myself back when I noticed the pace creeping up, because it still felt easy. Mistake. I died just into the 9th mile and by the beginning of the 10, I had dropped two minutes off the prior pace. I picked it up again a little in the last half mile, enough so that the 10th mile averaged out no worse than the 9th, but it was bad. Everything just hurts--so different from last week.
Next week will be 10 again, but I'll go back to being more conservative for the first 8 miles. Last two, I'll pick it up if I can, but not until then.
That's awesome!! Congrats. I run on the DPRT all the time. What section did you run? My favorite section is to start at the parking lot on central avenue (Becks Lake) and run North to Dundee and back. That is 14 miles round trip.
Trail Dog
Sharz -- sorry your long run did not go as well this week. It may or may not have been the pacing; sometimes, runs just don't go well. I've had this happen during long runs, and shorter mid-week runs. For no obvious reason other than just having a bad day. Just a suggestion and I'm not sure if you are following a formal training plan, but you may want to run a little shorter next weekend. If I am remembering correctly, you ran 10 for the very first time every 2 weeks ago, and did another 10 this weekend. I know that everybody is different, but I would be setting myself up for a bad run if I did 20 milers 3 weekends in a row.
20 mile trail run in Crystal Lake this morning, capping off a 33 mile weekend. Tomorrow is a rest day.
Return To Racing
9.5 on N. Branch, Dempster/Touhy/Golf/Dempster. 29 for the week. Really nice morning run.
Eek! Now I feel like a slacker! Only 35-ish for the week for me total. But, my long run this weekend was my longest run since running Chicago so that's something.
Jerry, I was out there for 6-ish today...Caldwell/Howard and back. Maybe I saw you.
Anne
10 miles on the Lakefront for me today. I ran on the Northwestern campus and a bit south. It was really nice out but a little on the windy side. It's hard to complain with close to 50 degree on December 16th.
Nice runs everyone!!!
Eek! Now I feel like a slacker! Only 35-ish for the week for me total. But, my long run this weekend was my longest run since running Chicago so that's something. Jerry, I was out there for 6-ish today...Caldwell/Howard and back. Maybe I saw you.
I didn't know you ran Chicago. Still waiting for that introduction.
I'm the one being dragged along by my wife.
I cut it short at 8 today- just was not feeling it. My legs felt like I was running through quicksand and my right ankle (that I twisted Tuesday) was starting to get grouchy. Oh well, live to run another day. I battled anemia for a big part of the spring and judging by how I felt this week, I think it might be back.
I only ran once on the NBT after dark at night- I thought there would be lots of runners out and about, but was surprised at how deserted it was! I'm not one to get scared easily about the "dangers of being a single female out alone", but that whole run I just felt uneasy. Pre-dawn the wildlife was more what made me nervous- even wearing a headlamp, I came up on a large buck standing on the path who looked less than happy to see me. And TONS of skunks- what's with all the skunks on the NBT?!?! I'm not all that eager to repeat the experience.
Badger, I was in Evanston yesterday and drove over to the lakefront just to check it out- I think I was at Centennial Park? That path is gorgeous! How long is it?
Amanda- where are you favorite trail runs in the area? I love trail running but don't know many local places for it.
Sharz- nice job finishing the run! I thought about the DPRT today but figured it would be a muddy mess after yesterday.
badger: I started at Rosecrans Road and went 6.7 miles south before turning back back north to the parking lot at Wadsworth. My husband dropped me off at Rosecrans and drove down to Wadsworth. My husband and I run at the same time, and our runs usually finish within 5-10 minutes, but his runs are longer than mine, across the board. His 12 today to my 10. We're running the entire DPRT, eventually, to see it all. But he's going to cover all in both directions, where I'll cover some of the distance only once, as we juggle what we've each covered and parking locations.
Roxie: 20 miles, yikes! I think I'm a good year away from attempting that.
Roxie, thanks for your comment--I think you might be right that pace wasn't the culprit. I did a side-by-side comparison of the first 8 miles of both runs, mile by mile, comparing each mile's pace, the total time at that point, and the total average pace to that point. Today's was actually only an average of 8 seconds faster and both runs had a mile that was 25 seconds faster than the 8 mile average. And my pacing today for that first 8 miles was MUCH more consistent than last week. +/- 2 seconds for 6 of the 8 this week, compared to +/- 16 for 6 of 8. So no, not pace.
Either just no discernable reason, or maybe a combination of less hydration/fuel/sleep, and two 10 milers on successive weekends. I think overall this week was slightly less quality in terms of hydration/fuel/sleep. But enough for such a sharp drop-off? Eh ... I don't know. I've been building my long runs by doing each new distance two or three times. At least twice, and I don't move on to the next increase until I have a really solid one, where I feel like I could run another mile if it was called for. My last 9 mile run was definitely in that category, then a cutback week, followed by the first 10. Hmm, the fact that the first 10 was after a cutback week ... yeah, maybe the two in a row was a factor, too. You know, I just had another thought. Hubby also crashed and burned today, when he, too, had a good 12 mile run last week. It was his first 12 mile attempt. And our rest/fuel/hydration are generally similar both weeks, except his last cutback was longer ago. So ... now I'm back to leaning to mostlhy hydration, fuel, sleep.
Well, I'm going to hold the long run at 10 miles for the next two months, including a couple cutback weeks where I skip a long run, so I will own 10 miles and whup its tail up and down before I move on to 11.