UphillUphillUPhillUPHillUPHILLflatflatflatdownnhillUPHILLUPhill
(car exhaust)
repeat.
We tried to run' away' from the Mountain, as it is 'flatter'. Most of the area near my hotel is quite similar to San Fransisco in the lay of the land and the grade of the streets (we ran in the Southern suburbs of Newlands/Claremont/Rodenbosch). However, I have to admit, the hills are not CLOSE to as bad to the Kloof's Neck Section, which is WAY WORSE than San Fran.
We did 2 nine-mile loops so we could regroup at the hotel for bathroom break, refuel, water, etc- so the hills could not be avoided. It was just one of those runs when I kept wondering how we could keep going UP without hardly ever doing DOWN! I am so happy I got it done, I was pretty miserable by the end, but each long run has taught me something different.
Some lessons from my first 18-miler:
1. I like the solitude of doing my long runs alone. The first 9 miles with my running partner were great, but when I started hurting and she started pulling away, it got me down mentally, even though I only had slowed down about 5/sec per mile (because of tummy issues, see #2).
2. Luna Moons=the devil. I will not be touching these EVER again. I had a package at mile 9, and was not able to eat anything else the entire run, and had pukey-burps for the next hour and a half. NOT good at all. Going to stick with the Gu (Chocolate and Espresso Love, to be exact).
3. More reinforcement that my body can handle more than I give it credit for. My long runs fell in the same week last week (Sunday, then Saturday), putting my mileage at 47.6 for the last 7 days. And yes I am SORE, but not in PAIN, which is a key distinction that I am beginning to be able to make.
This realization has also made me more confident that I am 'doing enough' for the marathon, in running just about every other day. Sometimes I worry because that works out to only 3x per week, but that is OK. I am getting the mileage in, and being smart about what my body needs and can handle, and I need to be confident in that.
That's awesome! I bet that 18 mile run is as hard as any marathon (if not harder). I'm with you on running solo. Sometimes I tell the BF he can run the first 1/2 or last 1/2 of a long run with me, but not the whole thing. And when we ride long hills I make him go up then ahead of me so I'm not 'struggling' to stay with him while he's just chilling!
ReplyDeleteMake sure you stretch a LOT today! That's a lot of mileage and should give you great confidence