23 Miles

Saturday afternoon, Nov 17, 2012:

With a marathon coming up in three weeks, it was time to do a long run today.  We ran five miles with the SCV Runners this morning, so I did another 15 this afternoon on the Gateway Trail, finishing the 15 in 2:35:22, for a pace of 10:22.  This time I ran 40 triplets and walked 20, where a triplet is three footfalls (I count triplets because, while running, one triplet takes me almost exactly one second.)  The pace, if I could have continued, would finish a marathon in 4:32.  I can’t do that yet, but I do feel like I’m very slowly getting back some of the speed that the dexamethasone took away.

I did feel a little pain in the left knee from time to time, the knee with PFS, and in the last two miles I felt a little pain in the upper left hamstrings.  Neither of these was a limiting factor.  Cramps appeared in the last two miles or so, though, and would have been a limiting factor if I had run any farther.  When I finished I was really worn out, with sore and cramping leg muscles everywhere.  But this is why we run a long run, isn't it!

I carried water on this run, and took three gels along the way.  I forgot to bring salt, though, and I did not properly rehydrate after the morning's five-mile run.  Both of those could have contributed to the cramping.

Breakfast between today's runs.
There is oatmeal under there.

Splits: 3:51, 10:35, 9:50, 10:34, 9:26, 20:00 (2 mi), 10:38, 10:48, 3:15, 7:05, 10:49, 11:28, 10:10, 10:36, 10:00, 6:28, total 2:35:32, overall pace 10:22.

Saturday morning, Nov 17:


The St. Croix Valley Runners meet every Saturday at Stillwater’s Northland Tennis Courts, 7:00 am sharp.  This morning we had seven runners and four walkers.  I ended up running with Doug and Wayne, very nice because they ran about my pace.

We finished the five-mile run in about 49 minutes - the time is imprecise because none of the three of us remembered to start our watches!  The pace, then, was just under 10 minutes per mile, all running, no walking.  We ran the McKusick route, which is fairly hilly.  Lovely run.

Wednesday, Nov 14:

Three miles in the Stillwater Dome.  This was our first run since last Saturday’s half marathon.  With sub-freezing weather outside we decided to run indoors.  It actually seemed just as cold in the dome, though, but we did escape the wind.

I ran just three miles, at a pace of about 9:30 I think - I later cleared my stopwatch without writing down the splits.  This was a nice run, though, a little faster than a recovery run would normally be, perhaps, but I enjoyed it, with plenty left at the end.  I do recall that the last mile was faster than 9 minutes.