Tough 20 for me this morning. Met up with JulieC and Cam in Provo and the plan was 16 at a moderate/easy pace with the last 4 at marathon tempo pace. I'm not sure if it was the cold weather, the peak mileage week (76 miles), or lack of fueling. I forgot to eat breakfast which is pretty normal for me. I never eat breakfast before I run but I do always try to eat something before a LR and just plum forgot this morning. I think it may have been a combination of all 3 elements that made this not such a great run for me.
Anyway the first 16 miles flew by and I felt okay. We averaged around 8:10-8:15 pace. I could tell I was running low on energy and that running any faster was going to be questionable but I still wanted to give it a whirl. Tempo miles were 7:29, 7:30, 7:32 and then Cam and I both just crashed. I just knew I didn't have it in me and that pushing myself at this point was pointless. I basically hit a wall like in a marathon and my calves tightened up too. It was weird. It probably didn't help that we were running up University Avenue. It is not that uphill (maybe .5-1% grade?) but it was enough for me at that point. ha! Anyway I jogged the last mile and called it a day.
Overall AP for the run was 8:07. I was pretty frustrated initially but 20 miles is 20 miles and it is miles on my feet that count.
Thanks for organizing the run Julie and completely crushing your 4 fast miles. you rock! |