NYC Marathon 16 Mile Training Run
I had been struggling mentally with this run coning up. With a little over a month left until this race I know I need to get in two long training runs to get me up to 20 miles. I prefer to go further than that, but I haven’t had the time dedicated to the training for this race. But I used the Disneyland Half Marathon as upward momentum toward that mileage increase. I didn’t worry too much about the run during the week; but I was waiting for the humid weather to break because I did not want to run another plasma run in the heat. I wanted to enjoy the run. Thankfully the day I ran the humidity was gone.
I had my breakfast, tea, gathered up my fuel for the run, loaded up my iPod with my favorite podcasts and hit the road. I felt really good except for one thing, after mile 1 I really had to go pee. I didn’t want to go in the woods and was hoping to see a port-a-potty somewhere along the way. Eight miles into the run and I still wasn’t able to go. I was going to have to take a detour from my original route and stop home to use the bathroom. I had just 6 miles left to the run after the stop so I chose to modify my route to stay close to home.
Here are the stats of the run:
Nutrition
Breakfast was oatmeal
2 cups of caffeinated tea
Time of day
I began the run at 9:15 a.m.
Weather
It was 70 degrees, cloudless and low humidity with a light breeze
Fuel on the run
I stopped home at mile 9 to use the bathroom and had 5 sips of cola and had a handful of pretzel fish. During the last 6 miles I had several skittles.
Gear
Under Armour running shorts, hot pink sports bra with more support and no clips in the front and a tank top.
Note: these shorts cause me problems with chaffing if I stop and use the bathroom.
Pace
I walked a little on some of the big hills; but maintained my 30/30 for almost the entire run. I had to pause for a few minutes to rescue two stray dogs so I walked a bit with the dogs and traffic around mile 8.5 But then I resumed my run. I had to walk 3/4 mile to take a phone call.
16 mile run splits
Post Run
I felt fine after the run. Drank chocolate milk and had a turkey sandwich. When I finished my run I definitely felt like I ran 16 miles but it wasn’t painful. My tips of my toes were very tender.
The day after the run I had very little soreness so I am feeling confident that i can maintain the training plan I have planned and will do great for the race! I am finally starting to get excited about it. I’ll have to check out the NYC marathon merchandise soon to find something to wear after the race for the train ride home.
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