The last long run before Phoenix

Today’s run was a fast finish long run; 12 miles total with the last 6 at race pace. It was another gorgeous day in Denver, so I set out with a long-sleeved shirt (my Disney Half Marathon shirt from 06 in honor of the Goofy folks running today), shorts and a ball cap.

I settled into a 8:15 pace pretty easily at the start; I love that that has become an “easy” pace for me. Although I’ve been a bit burnt out, it was a nice day to be out and I ran along easily. Over the first few miles I watched as my pace increased steadily. Just into the 5th mile I was feeling good, and eager to start the “workout” part of the workout. I felt myself pushing a bit harder, eager to get to the turn-around point. I looked at my watch, and it registered I was running a 7 minute pace. Whoops! I forced myself to pull back. I finished the first 6 “warmup” miles in 48:59 (8:09 pace).

I had trouble clicking into a good pace on the way back. When I first turned around and went to push to get my pace up, I found myself up at a 6:48 pace. Then I’d try to slow and be at an 8:08. For at least a mile I didn’t even pay attention to how I felt, because I was trying to get “in gear”. I’ve done most of my fast-finish long runs on the treadmill and now I wonder if that was why I wasn’t able to really hone in on that exact pace. Naturally, I know that the course conditions impact that as well: I was running on an uneven trail. I tried to convince myself that the variations in pace were ok, just so long as my overall pace was where it needed to be.

The route I take has a fairly steady decent from 1.5 – 1 mile to go, and I let myself be carried towards the end of the run. Afterwards, however, I felt a bit heady and the last mile was really a survival run. I wasn’t too happy to resort to that during a 12 miler, but at least it gave me some practice! I was focusing on lifting my legs, and just letting them carry me forward. My breathing was pretty hard (heart rate in the 180s) but I told myself that these were my lungs in Colorado, and the race was in Arizona, where things would be different 🙂

Despite the difficulty, I finished my last mile strong, and the last 6 miles took me 46:09 (a 7:41 pace).

My last long run ended up as 12 miles in 1:35:08 (average 7:55 pace), with an average heart rate of 175 and a max heart rate of 184.

Tapering has been a bit crazy – this past week I thought I was getting sick on Monday and Tuesday, Wednesday I flew to California for work, Thursday I flew home. This upcoming week I am flying to Tennessee on Tuesday to facilitate a workshop at a conference, and I’ll fly back Thursday. Friday I fly to Arizona, and the race is on Sunday. I’m doing some mad protein-loading (unusual for me) and just trying to stay healthy and positive. As is normal during taper, I’m thinking of all the things I could be doing differently, but I’m trying really hard to stay positive.

Next week I’m hoping to channel the zebra from “Racing Stripes” and ‘leave it all on the track’!