Today was my longest long run before the Beach to Battleship full ironman race. My running volume has been lower this time around so I was anxious to see how it would go. I ran 80 minutes on Monday, wanting to make up Sunday's 2:12 run but my coach and reason prevailed, knowing that 3 hours waited for me at the end of the week. Today's run was also the longest run I've attempted since the disastrous Orange Blossom Half Marathon in Nov 2008. There have been big runs on the schedule but I always backed off. Only once did I have a good reason.
Fear or no fear, the ironman does not offer extensions for "triathletes who need to get over their bad races". Time to cowboy up and get out there. Mentally, I needed to finish feeling strong more than I needed to run fast. My goal was to keep the pace very comfortable. Thanks to Mr. Garmin Taskmaster 305, it was easy to keep my HR in zone 2. Much to my surprise, that led to an 11-11:20 pace. When I let my mind go, the pace would drop down to 10:30 with my HR moving up to zone 3. The ironman is a long, long day. It will be a 26 mile run that day, not 8. Focus, keep it easy. Stay out of my ego. Focus, keep it easy. The route was an awesome SHADED loop through multimillion dollar houses. The home owners make sure there are no parks or water fountains out there so normally, I can only make one loop before running out to find water. But not on Sundays. On Sunday, a couple who are members of the Mad Dogs tri club put out cold water and Gatorade for runners until 9am. Imagine 8.5 miles under the oaks next to spectacular landscaping and views of the bay. Did I mention SHADE! Really nice.
Much to my surprise, I felt better and better as the run progressed. It took more focus to keep the pace slow. In fact, my HR was higher trying to "hold back" than when I let my mind go. So I made a promise to myself: if you still feel like a supergenious at 2:30, run the last 30 minutes like a 5K.
Ready. Set. Go. 10:06/mile for the last segment. Bam! Fast AND strong. The best of both worlds. 11:08 average for the entire 3 hours. Faster than any of my IMFL 2007 long runs (~11:30). Yes, Ye Olde calves and right flexor/aductors are tired but it's a good tired. I've just got to keep the faith a little bit longer.
3 comments:
Great job on the run!
Booya!
Excellent job!
And I'm heartened to hear I'm not the only one who isn't doing a lot of running. I've a few 2 - 2.5 hour runs but that's about it.
At IM slow and steady often does win the race and now you know you are ready!
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