Dissapointing run

2/21/09
Saturday

Even though I planned a long run for Sunday, ran tempo and speed runs during the week, I just felt like running this morning. I went down on the treadmill and ran a three mile hill workout. It is the longest I have run on 10% grade and actually it felt pretty good. I increased the pace as I went along and used hand weights while running to work on core.

3 miles 10% grade @ 3.5-4 speed
splits: 11:42, 10:30, 9:40 (9:14Kick)

2/22/09
Sunday

My body remembered yesterdays hill run this morning and not in a good way. I felt a bit more lame than I planned and experienced a small shutter when I looked at the temp outside. Though 17 degrees is not seriously cold, my body complained at the thought of running in the cold this morning.

I originally planned a 14 mile run at 9:10 to 9:20 pace. A little fast I think for this stage of my training but it was only a plan and subject to change. I convinced myself to suit up and hit the road after I spent a few minutes deciding wether to hit the road, the trails or just the treadmil.

I didn't feel that good, wasn't extremely excited to be out running and I felt quite tired. I thought perhaps I would settle in and in the end be glad I ran.
I left the house at 7:30 Am and by the time I finished the first mile, I knew that a 9:10 pace would be out of the question.

I encountered a lot more ice on the roads than I anticipated and a surprising amount of morning traffic caused me to run a bit more cautious than normal at this time in the morning. I knew I was going run much slower than planned and doubted I would make the planned 14 miles.

I figured I would just ramble along until I felt I had enough and then head home. I usually run a similar loop when running long on weekends so I could compare my speed and energy. Today instead, I decided to head in different direction.....sort of a way to fool my brain so I wouldn't harp on feeling slow and tired.

I decided on a 10 mile run and then perhaps a 2 mile cooldown if I had any energy left. It was nerve racking as I ran a 10 mile race two weeks ago and comfortably ran 9:15 pace after a 5K warmup.

My splits were all over the place and stopping at 5 miles to suck down a gel didn't help the stats. I only averaged 80-84% of heart rate and honestly should have felt like I was on an easy sauntering jog.

In the past, I would normally run 8 mile long runs at about 8:30 pace. Funny how my training this year has me feeling dead tired at 9:30 pace. It is so hard to get used to running slower and my brain was not satisfied with the pace as I look at my stats. Problem is, I am not sure I could pull off a run that fast now. I think I am getting too used to running slow.

I somehow labored through the first 5 miles then sort of zoned out for a few miles and pushed a bit on the last two. I did get 9 miles in with a kick and then jogged a
two mile continuation/cooldown to finish off the run at 11 miles. Not quite the 14 miles I wanted but still a pretty good workout and honestly, I felt like I had run 20 miles. Technically this was an 11 mile run as I continued two more miles after kicking at the end of nine.

Splits:

9:51 --- 134 av-- 181 max.
10:05 --- 138 -- 146
9:36 --- 142 -- 149
9:25 --- 143 -- 149
12:30 --- 125 -- 150
9:55 --- 140 -- 146
9:09 --- 145 -- 150
10:14 --- 145 -- 150
10:30 --- 141 -- 160 (8:45 kick)

two mile
10:13 --- 139 -- 146
10:31 --- 139 --152 (9:11 kick)

I guess the splits tell it all, the body was tired, beat and not into a long run this morning. I was glad as I walked a half mile cooldown on the way back to my house that I forced myself out to run. Honestly though, it should not have felt this tough.