Excellent Eight!

I couldn't be more pleased with my 8 miler today! I did some experimenting today, and I think the results are good.

I left the house at 6:30 this morning, and took my sweet time for this little adventure. I knew that most of the house would still be asleep by the time I got back. (Except my Chris, who is up at the crack of dawn EVERY day regardless of school or not!) I left a note outlining my route, time of departure and expected return time - and off I went!

I pre-fueled with a PowerBar smoothie energy type thing - high in carbs (42g) and no fiber. (Experiment #1) I also had 2 cups of coffee. It was 37 degrees this morning and WINDY as I headed north towards Lake Erie. I was running into the wind for the first 1/3 of the run. I took frequent walk breaks early, so the first 2-3 miles felt more like a warm up. I ran 4 minutes, walked 1. I decided to try the Galloway approach for this long run (experiment #2), because when I did my 7 miler 2 weeks ago, I think I was more 'spent' than I should have been at the end. (the hills didn't help though).

What was great about the run / walk approach is that when I ran, I was running about 11:00 - 11:30, and that felt SLOW. And then my 30 second to 1 minute walk breaks were pretty 'brisk' (not plodding in recovery) So my average pace by the end of the run was still about the same as usual (13:15 today), but my actual running pace was faster, and the walk breaks kept the stress off the body! By mile 4, I changed to run 5 / walk 30 seconds.

Also at mile 4, I took a little 5 minute break to enjoy the view of Lake Erie while the sun came up and tried a PowerBar Gel (experiment #3). I'm not sure if I liked it or not - it was SO sweet and the texture was sort of gross. I didn't have any stomach issues really and I will say that it really perked me up for about the next 2 miles. My running pace was closer to 10:50 by then, but I felt nice and relaxed.

By mile 6, I had to go potty - GREAT. I was still a bit from the Caribou coffee shop I had planned to stop at. But I got there finally, used the restroom, blew my nose and bought some water and a yummy rice krispy treat! This was about a 10 minute break , and I finished out the final 2 miles nice and strong!

The other cool thing about this little adventure is that I ran through three other neighboring suburbs besides my own! It was fun to pass the "Welcome" signs as I entered each suburb! I felt like a real runner.

I did not record the run on my Garmin, because I did not want to watch miles. I just checked my pace and heart rate periodically.

If it had been less windy and a little warmer, it would have been near perfect! I feel great now, and am going to stretch and jump in the shower and get on with the day!

Now I can go out with friends tonight and not worry about getting 8 miles in tomorrow! I do have to cross train though, but will do light cardio, and then some core and upper body stuff at the gym some time tomorrow afternoon.

It's 10am and my girls are still asleep! No one even missed me while I was gone ha ha.

Running Rocks! ;O)