City of Oaks, Week 10 Training

So another humid week from hell passes causing a week full of struggles.

Tuesday wasn't too bad. Typical warm up and cool down. This week's intervals were 6 x 800's. The first half was solid, but on the second half, the humidity got the best of me. The lap paces were 7:45, 7:46, 7:46, 8:01, 8:09 and 8:19, so it's obvious that I ran out of steam. Average hr was 139, with a max of 171.

Thursday's run was short and a bit slow. I only had 5 miles on my schedule to keep me fresh for the long run. Bill and I ran the Montibello to Black Creek to Harrison route. I should have been able to do a 10:20-10:30 pace, but I fell short. It was a foggy, humid morning. I ended up running 4.86 miles in 53:15, which is a 10:57 pace. Average hr was 149, with a max of 168.

Sunday's run was not all I hoped for, but definitely better than last week. I had a 20 mile out and back on the plan, starting at Maynard and Evans. The route was Evans, right on Dynasty, left onto the Black Creek trail to Umstead, Reedy Creek trail out onto Reedy Creek Road, and turn around at the 10 mile, and follow back. I hit a little snag at the end of Black Creek. Saturday night's rain caused the lake at the end to wash out the trail. Thank goodness for the gps watch. I doubled back to a path that took me through an apartment complex and out onto Weston, where I caught Old Reedy Creek Road to the Umstead trail. That added a little less than a mile onto the run, so I was able to cut the out part short before coming onto Reed Creek Road. I was feeling pretty strong the first half. I finished the first split at an 11:21 pace. I was feeling pretty good through about 14 miles. I slowed up a bit at that point, so I could try to make my way to the finish. I took a couple of short walk breaks on some of the hills. I made it out of Umstead pretty well, but I was feeling tired. I made it back to Black Creek and filled up on water. My goal at that point was to just make it through Black Creek at a slow pace without stopping, and I would take a two more walk breaks on the two hills on Dynasty. I made it most of the way through, but I had to stop a couple of times toward the end. Once I made it out, I took the two breaks I planned on the hills because they are pretty tough hills. Once I hit Evans, I psyched myself through the pain and finished out the last mile. It was a tough run, but I made it. If I had to do 26.2 today, it would not have been pretty. My second split was at a 12:21 pace. A full minute off the first, so I can't say it was a great run. My final time was 3:56:48, which was an 11:50 pace. My average hr was 152 with a max of 165. I upped my gell intake to every three miles, based on an article I read this week in Runner's World. I think it helped, but I was going to try electrolyte capsules and forgot them. I'll try them on my next long run.

Overall it was a so-so week. The coming week has morning lows in the 60's, so hopefully the cooling trend is starting.

9 weeks to go...