stupid is as stupid does

Remember those fantastic runs I had that were easy and effortless and I got PRs and life was great?  Weren't they awesome?  I've been missing those sweet runs lately.

This book is a FABULOUS reference for
us non-runners who want to try to run a
marathon.  Lots of good advice.

I had 15 miles on the ol' training plan today. Boy, did that run SUCK.  Well, maybe not the entire run; the first 7 miles were fine and I did my best to keep it s-u-p-e-r-s-l-o-w per TenacityChris's instructions. But after mile 7, once again, the wheels fell off.  It was an absolute suckfest.  I felt like crap, my legs hurt, blah, blah, blah. I ended up walking A LOT between miles 8-12.  And I walked probably the entire last two to three miles. All I can say is wow. Just.....wow.

The only thing that kept me going was the advice from the book I leaned on heavily last year while training for my FIRST marathon. (Have I mentioned that I'm training for a marathon?  No?  Really??  I haven't mentioned that? Well, I am!) Anywhoo, the book suggests STRONGLY that you finish your run, walking, crawling, whatever, just finish the damn thing.  So that was what I did. Seriously, if you're thinking of running your first marathon but aren't sure you have the cojones (you do, by the way), check out the book shown on the right.  You won't regret it.

So, back to today's nasty-ass run.....

Transparency time: I didn't prepare for this run very well.  Last night the husband and I had date night and went out for dinner and had a great time.  I had chilean sea bass with vanilla parsnip puree, spinach  and cauliflower.  Oh, and two (yes, two) blood orange cosmos. Um, yeah, I think that may have affected my performance today.  Do ya think I should maybe prepare a little better for my long runs?  Maybe rethink my food and beverage choices the night before? ? Yeah, I think so too.

The splits of shame...... GarminElectra was as disgusted with me as I was when I started walking AGAIN after 13 miles and she just up and quit on me after 13.41 miles.

Split	Time	Distance	Avg Pace
Summary	2:35:59.8	13.41	11:38
1	10:51.6	1.00	10:52
2	10:15.3	1.00	10:15
3	10:30.7	1.00	10:31
4	10:21.9	1.00	10:22
5	10:46.2	1.00	10:46
6	10:43.6	1.00	10:44
7	10:46.8	1.00	10:47
8	11:21.6	1.00	11:22
9	13:44.0	1.00	13:44
10	14:06.6	1.00	14:07
11	11:32.2	1.00	11:32
12	12:32.9	1.00	12:33
13	11:50.0	1.00	11:50
14	6:36.5	0.41	16:09

Good thing I had my iPhone set to track my run, too. I ended up with about 12 minute miles overall what with all the walking I did. Oh well, at least I got 'er done.  Next week my long run is 16 miles. Good news!! That means I have a whole week to get my shit together!