16 miles

I ran 16 miles yesterday, my longest run yet. My goal was to stick to 11 mins/mile. NYRR set up a great mock marathon/long run...folks ran between 16 and 20 miles in Central Park, complete with water every couple miles and a Gatoraid/munchie station at the start of each loop.

I had a running buddy who I allowed to pull me past the 11 min/mile pace setter. We ran 9:45/mile for a while. I shouldn't have done this, because mile 12 became a bear (which may have been a lack of fuel issue as well).

I did not take free Gu after mile 6 (the first loop) because my only experience with Gu made me very ill. So I ate a tiny handful of peanuts from my pocket and drank Gatoraid. At mile 11, the next stop at the Gatoraid station, I felt I was pooping out. So I tried a 1/2 pack of Gu and some pretzels. Heading into mile 12 was hard...the munchies had not hit my blood stream yet and I felt tired. I walked about 100 feet and then an old woman shuffled alongside of me. She was a talker, so I decided to shuffle with her...at about 13 min/mile pace. This was the best thing for me. I ran with her and talked for 2 miles and then resumed my 11 min/mile pace until the end.

Even though I was one of the last Team for Kids members to finish. I felt so good about this run. But I need to get my fuel plan down. And today, I don't feel so bad. Some soreness in my quads, but overall, I feel great. Yay!