Yesterday was my last long run for the year and I have to admit to being thrilled to be starting the taper. Sure, I have a 16 scheduled for next weekend, but that's only about 2 hours 8 minutes. No biggie. I'm mostly excited that there aren't mid-week runs that are so long I need to be up crazy early anymore.
Anyway, yesterday I went in for the NYRRC's 18 mile "race" in Central Park. (3 loops; so dull. How'd no one say, "Let's do part of this on the Westside Highway?") I did the 4 mile middle loop before the "race" so that I'd get to 22 for the day, and passed numerous, dozens of people running extra miles. Yeah, this "race" is going to be really competitive. After the 4, I ran into NFG and several other Flyers while waiting for the start. I'd lined up back in the 8:30/mile range and then we went off.
So, here's how the 18 went down. The first mile went by in about 8:50. Sometime prior to mile 2, I caught a Flyer chick who's also trying to BQ at MCM and happens to also be an attorney. We chatted through the end of the first loop, when she decided the pace was a little too quick. The first loop ended at about an 8:20 average pace. On the next loop, I chatted with some more Flyers, including one guy who was shocked that we'd gotten lapped. I went through 13 in 1:45:15 (8:06) and 14 in 1:53 (8:04). Also, over these stretchs, I passed Sister Smile running the opposite way a couple times. Her cheers and those of the other Flyers on the watching the race makes these Central Park long runs worthwhile.
At about 15 miles (19 total), my legs started to not feel so good. My feet felt somewhat numb and my legs felt somewhat spaghetti-y. I did the only reasonable thing: sped up. The run finished in 2:22:43 for a 7:55 average pace. With the early 4, the daily total was 2:52:58 for 22 miles (7:52 average). Leaving aside the first 4, I feel pretty good about this because, even though I felt like I'd been beaten with a f-ugly stick, I kept the pace dropping for each lap. Moreover, it wasn't until around 20 miles that I really started to feel bad. I can justify that somewhat through poor hydration and not really eating enough on Saturday, two things that I can fix marathon day, which is exactly 20 days away.
The marathon quote of the week is from Virgil's Aeneid: Tu ne cede malis, sed contra audentior ito qua tua te Fortuna sinet. (Yield not to adversity, but press on the more bravely against that which your Fortune would allow for you.)
Week in Review
| Monday | Rest | -- | -- |
| Tuesday | 5 miles | 38:30 | 7:42/mile |
| Wednesday | 10.4 miles | 80:46 | 7:46/mile |
| Thursday | 10.25 miles | 77:02 | 7:31/mile |
| Friday | Rest | -- | -- |
| Saturday | 4.1 miles | 29:10 | 7:02/mile |
| Sunday | 22 miles | 2:52:57 | 7:52/mile |
| Total | 51.75 Miles | -- | -- |
1 comment:
"(3 loops; so dull. How'd no one say, "Let's do part of this on the Westside Highway?")"
Because it'd cost $60 like the NYC Half, and I bet it'd be mismeasured anyway :)
I totally expected to get lapped in the 2nd loop-was between 8 and 9 for me, I think...was a first for me, getting lapped in a race! (Not counting the long training runs.) But another thing I noticed was that the leader had a huge lead on the rest of the field...I had gotten to the next mile and I realized I hadn't seen the 2nd place runner yet.
Great run, and let the taper begin...
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