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| Taken on Monday morning’s 15-miler |
Problem with long runs on the weekend? I REALLY LIKE TO SLEEP IN (*sleeping in for me is like 7:30, btw). Like, I really really don’t like getting up at 5-ish on a Saturday. It’s the worst. And I’m not going to do it every weekend, no sirree. I planned to do it on Sunday this week but it didn’t happen.
Then, I got the brilliant idea that I could actually do a long run any day of the week considering I get up at 5am everyday anyway. I was all crazy about it on Monday morning because I felt like I should go to Back on My Feet and make a Crossfit workout — but also run 15 miles. Um, you can’t do all that, Ericka — there’s just not enough time or energy in a day!
So, I decided I would stick with running 15 miles before work on Monday. Seems like a daunting task, right? But for some reason, I think it’s much less daunting than doing it on a Saturday. I think I might actually keep these long runs on the weekdays. I might be jumping the gun because I had a good experience on Monday but we shall see.
The dawn was barely breaking when I stepped outside, turned on my RunKeeper app (it annoyingly updates your distance every 5 minutes — is there a way to get rid of that?!) and started jogging.
I was wearing my new Camelbak Marathoner Vest to really test it out for the long runs. Results: Stellar. I barely noticed it though I could tell that a few more miles might have produced some rub burn on my shoulders.
After the light finally made it’s appearance, I turned on the Zumba station on Pandora. Anytime I’ve gone to Zumba I always think, man I wish I had these songs on my playlist. Problem solved. I’m sick of making my own playlists and I love that there are a ton of good stations on Pandora.
*However, I think I’m about to start paying for the commercial-free version because there are a LOT of ads on that thing. Super annoying.
The weather was perfect, not too hot at all. I LOVE the morning air and I love watching the sunrise while I’m running. It was just rising as I hit the trail where the Washington Monument and the U.S. Capitol can be seen across the water. I was just going my natural pace not pushing it or trying for anything specific. It ended up being 9:25-9:30, very comfortable.
It was by far the strongest run I’ve had in forever. I felt pretty great the whole time. I had eaten 1/3rd of a Quest bar before starting and only ate 2 Honey Stinger gummy pieces on the way. I try not to eat too much on runs in training so my body can train on less. The reason for that? On race day, you will be fresh and your body will gain MORE energy from the fuel you do give it. You want to have ALL the advantages on race day so you can power through the last half. However — if I felt hungry or weak, I would definitely eat more during training, just FYI.
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| Unfortunately, selfies are all I got on days like this! |
Around mile 10, my legs started feeling kind of fatigued. They were a bit stuff and harder to move but I just told myself they needed to get used to the distance again. I finished the run strong and jogged it into my apartment complex at 15.2 miles.
Walking back to my house, I couldn’t believe I had just run 15 miles and it felt like no big deal. I guess it always depends on the day. It was 8am by then and I had like 25 minutes to shower, eat, do a couple things for work and get out the door. I threw my makeup in a bag and picked out a quick outfit — you can’t be picky when you want to spend the first 2.5 hours of your day training!
On Tuesday, my legs were a little sore but good sore. Maybe just maybe I will get some “real” training in this season.