Breaking into new (mileage) territory

Although I've run close to 30 half marathons, I haven't really ventured to a distance farther than the coveted 13.1. In an attempt to become semi-prepared for Race to Beach Ultra Relay, I decided it was time to suck it up and start to incorporate longer runs so my body can adapt in plenty of time.

Originally when I was thinking longer distances, I was leaning toward building up slowly and starting out at 14 miles. After talking with J, he somehow convinced me it would be a good idea to do 16 miles together on Sunday.  I've noticed when it comes to running, I can be easily convinced into doing crazy adventures- case in point Becka and Kim convinced me to join up in Colorado in April for the Platte River 1/2--- the race wasn't even on my radar till Kim pointed out I could meet her husband Scott-- apparently he likes my dance moves (she took a quick video in our hotel room last weekend, sent it to him, and "can't stop watching it")

Anywho- before my races I have a set routine of what I do- 2 days before race day I carb load and then eat light the day before. I kind of forgot I was doing 16 miles and Friday night instead of carb loading I enjoyed one of my new favorite local restaurants

I decided that instead of giving up sweets and bacon for lent, that I would go a step further and give up all meat, so this was my last hoorah meal- Gai Yang- "chicken sauteed in light evoo, garlic, and cilantro on a bed of jasmine rice w/ steamed veggies".... I guess the rice was some type of carb loading...

Another 'breaking the habit / forgetting I was running' was on Saturday I had 2 HUGE helpings of the salad bar for lunch (oh you know tons of fiber the day before your longest run ever, NBD), and to top it off I went to a Preds hockey game and enjoyed a great healthy meal before bed...

Yes, I ate every single chip and dipped it in liquid fat cheese 

So the run...

Original plan was to have J come over at noon and then we'd start and end at my place. At 10 I got a text asking if 11 was okay, so I had to scramble around to find something 'light enough, but filling' to eat since now I only had an hour till go time. Randomly got some matzo crackers on clearance (they're HUGE) and just did one of those with peanut butter hoping it would suffice. 

J's garmin wasn't charged, so the pace was strictly up to me which is perfect since that is something that has been a large focus for me this year. Since I already know I go out too fast, the goal was to keep pace at high 8s low 9s and just hang and not be a chatty cathy or i'll be out of breath... but most of all, have fun (which I'm GrrrrRRReat at) 

Around mile 5

For those who don't know, my last name is Jameson.... with an E, not an I

I warned J that if I saw an 'animal bouncy ride' at a park, I would HAVE to get on it... I'm a woman of my word

Mile 8ish 

Out of all the animals, why did it have to be a beaver??

First half of the run wasn't bad. We stopped at a gas station at the half way point to get some refreshments since it was H.O.T. and my water belt of 10oz of water & 10oz of nuun wasn't going to cut it. While J got gatorade, a power bar, and jalapeno cheddar cracker sandwiches, the only thing I craved was a coke (my guilty pleasure occasionally after a long run)

Channeling my inner Dave Mari and posing with refreshments mid run. 

For those who are wondering, yes I had a few 'carbonation burps' but no it didn't really affect me. Although my legs were getting tight, it wasn't too bad thanks to my lovely compression socks from runningskirts.com (figured if they could prevent me from being sore with Austin's continuous hills, it was worth a repeat for this run)

Around mile 10-11ish I got REAL HUNGRY--- note to self: matzo cracker with peanut butter is NOT ENOUGH to fuel my run. Shortly after mile 11 I announced I was going to take my gel at the stop sign, so J had the genius idea to race to the stop sign--- my stride was NOT opening up and thats when I realized how tight my hips already were, great.

Once we hit the half marathon mark, I announced we went sub 2, which was pretty cool to do, then shortly after J congratulated me for hitting a 'new territory / distance '- bless his heart, he was supportive and encouraging, but all I could think of was how I wanted to be done. I was hungry, hot, and I could use a pool and a massage. Although our last few miles were faster, I think a large part of it had to do with it was along the same route that I run every day--- I think your body just recognizes familiar surroundings and speeds up, because I definitely didn't feel like I was going faster.

Surprisingly I wasn't as sore after the run as I anticipated. My knees and hips are slightly stiff, but otherwise I'm good. I know for a fact that I couldn't have done this alone, and I'm so appreciative to have someone that is willing to push and challenge me outside of my own mentality... I definitely need that.

As far as my consistent pace goes- there were a few variances, but overall I'm pretty pleased considering I only looked at the watch to see mileage and didn't focus on the pace. I think I'm getting better of not being all over the pace road map.

Pretty excited to randomly get a 16 miler under my belt- J suggested doing 17 next week, however he asked while we were still running, so of course I laughed and said no... now I'll change my answer to "maybe" --- more sun screen for next time, I got DARK (for me in the winter time)

Total pace for whole run was 8:52

Mile 1- 8:52
Mile 2- 9:02
Mile 3- 8:50
Mile 4- 8:37
Mile 5- 9:14
Mile 6- 8:59
Mile 7- 9:00
Mile 8- 8:59
Mile 9- 9:05
Mile 10-9:11
Mile 11- 9:23
Mile 12- 8:52
Mile 13- 8:50
Mile 14- 8:57
Mile 15- 8:56
Mile 16- 8:48