08/13/2012 - Marathon Training

 

Marathon Training - 17 Miles
Location: Dutchess County Rail Trail
Distance: 17 Miles
Time: 2:27:03
Pace: 8:38
Calories Burned: 2069
Heart Rate (Avg/Max/Min): 155/166/79
Weather: Mostly Sunny and dry, slight breeze, temps in the high 70's / low 80's

Pre-Run: 2 Generic Tums | Saltstick Cap | V8 Juice | Chia Seeds
During Run: Gel Packets every 30 minutes | Water

Run Details

    Felt really good before this run. This surprised me since I haven't felt good before a long run yet. I decided even though I ran the past 2 days that I would try to do the entire Rail Trail. I knew that I wouldn't be able to run another long run until Sunday so I knew I had to get it in.
    Started at the beginning of the Rail Trail knowing that the first 1.5 miles were uphill...of course that means the last 1.5 would be downhill. I just kept telling myself that during the run. Had my Camelbak loaded up with water. I do hate running with it but for training it can't hurt. Glad to know there will be water stops pretty often during the marathons.

    I did a really good job pacing myself throughout this entire run. For the most part kept miles for the first half of the run between 8:45 and 8:50. Since I felt so good I tried to pick things up a little bit for the second half of the run. Towards the end I was trying to push myself to run with a fuller stride for short periods of time.
    As for my legs, they felt pretty good up until about mile 12. Things started to tighten up a bit and I tried to change up my strides a bit to help change up the muscle strain on the same muscles. My feet felt pretty sore as well but nothing I wouldn't expect at this distance. Overall at the end I felt pretty darn good.
    I felt so happy at the end that I had made it the entire way without stopping and without having GI issues. Up until this point I thought that I would have a really hard time with the marathon but this training run today confirmed that I will be able to do it. Not only did I feel great during the run I felt amazing after. Looking forward to pushing the distance further on the next training run!