So, I ran another half marathon around DC this morning. Oh, you know, no big deal.
JUST KIDDING! Running 13 miles is no joke, guys.
I feel a) hardcore, b) tired, and c) amazed/terrified that this is only the beginning of the mileage ramp up that is soon to come. I’ll tap out at 22 miles miles as my longest training run the week of October 21 – that’s so insane.
Two weeks ago, when my friend Kathleen and I did a 13.1 mile training run, it was all sunshine and roses. We had great weather and fresh legs on our sides, and what was supposed to be an 11 mile run turned into 13.1 miles when we overshot the distance and had to get back to the metro. No big deal. We both felt great.
Today, though? Um, yeah. Today was a different story. Today, I was really tired. Isn’t it weird how running is just like that sometimes? How one day running feels easy and the next it’s hard?
I guess it’s those hard runs that really prepare us for the races – especially something like a marathon. I didn’t really feel like pushing through today, to be honest. My legs felt sore and leaden, and the high humidity outside (although, thankfully, it was cloudy) meant that Kathleen and I were both soaked in sweat within minutes.
But we pushed through and I’m proud that we did. 🙂 We’re certainly going to get our fill of sightseeing in DC over the next couple months, that’s for sure!
This morning, we met at 6:30 a.m. at the Smithsonian metro. Kathleen forgot her bike lock, so she raced home and we ended up running towards each other and meeting in the middle instead. We decided to mix it up and explore a new area, and ran towards the southeast waterfront/Yards Park.
From there, we headed through Eastern Market’s cute streets and back towards the Capitol.
We ran back down the National Mall and into the Georgetown waterfront. So many waterfronts to explore! 🙂
We decided to end the run in Virginia, so we headed over Key Bridge, conquered the mile long hill of death from Rosslyn up to Courthouse, and voila! 13.1 miles, done and done. Obviously we couldn’t just stop at 13 even when we were so close to saying we did a half marathon. 😉
As you can see, I still have my Garmin watch held together with a hairband. I swear I’ll try to superglue it soon!
Despite feeling sluggish, we kept up a decent pace throughout the run. These times don’t include a few fuel stops and some stops at lights!
Splits:
- Mile 1: 9:24
- Mile 2: 9:15
- Mile 3: 9:22
- Mile 4: 9:22
- Mile 5: 9:28
- Mile 6: 9:27
- Mile 7: 9:15
- Mile 8: 9:33
- Mile 9: 9:14
- Mile 10: 9:17
- Mile 11: 9:20
- Mile 12: 10:01 —> hill of death
- Mile 13: 9:27
- 0.1 nubbin pace: 8:46
Total time: 2:03:21 – average pace of 9:24. Thanks for keeping me going out there today, Kathleen!
How everyone else’s running going this week? Any new distance records? I’m excited because next week we’re doing 14 miles, which will be a new distance record for me!
