Despite Thursday's run not really happening, I wasn't deterred for today's 12-mile run. I am a bit surprised I wasn't too stressed about needing to run 12 miles today. I suppose that's what the last 9 weeks of training does. Ten and 11 mile runs weren't horrible. I can do 12.
Running 12 miles takes some planning.
(Interactive map here.)
I collected my running partner and we set out a bit later than we would have hoped (11a). We haven't run together in weeks and haven't done a long run in even longer. So it would be interesting to see how we had progressed without each other. The weather was good: 65, overcast, rained for a couple minutes, breezy.
We averaged 5 MPH for the entire 12 miles, which thrills me. We finished 12 miles in 2:20. I'm still not quite sure how/if we'll get to 13.1 miles in 2:30 (my unofficial goal). When running, we're at or below 10-min miles, but the walk breaks drop us to 12-min mile averages.
By mile 9, I was struggling. Miles 9, 10 and 11 were ok, but not great. At mile 11 we ran into a March of Dimes walk and had no choice by to walk, maybe for longer than we would have otherwise. We started running again at mile 11.3, and I remember complaining that my whole body hurt. My lats hurt, my delts hurt, my hip flexors hurt. We finished 12 miles strong, though I counted every hundredth of the last 0.7 miles.
The mile that we walked home felt like an eternity. I wanted to sit down when I got home, but don't allow sweaty people on the furniture. I was afraid if I sat down on the ground I wouldn't be able to get up. I immediately got in the shower, but found that my quads were still screaming. I finally sat down on the side of the tub. After the shower I drank some poweraid zero, ate two spoon-fulls of peanut butter, and crawled into bed with my napping husband.
The half-marathon is 2 weeks from tomorrow. Time to taper.