Today was my last long run before the US Half Marathon. For the first time in my life I felt mentally stronger than I did physically. Left this morning with the thought of doing 12 miles but ended up finishing at 13.45. I felt a little sluggish as left this morning but thought I would be able to run it off by the end of the first mile. By two miles I felt better but hadn’t hit my stride. My route for this run was to start at Taylor Mountain, run to Howarth Park and then around Springlake and back.
By the time I got to the park (4.5miles in) I was still feeling tired but mentally I felt good so I decided to take the long route through the park and add on another mile. The hills in the park are great practice for what I am going to see in SF next weekend but were tough. Half way around the lake I decided to take a short stretch break as I began to tighten. When I left the park (7.98miles) and headed home, I started to feel the wear and tear and my muscle and joints were aching. For the first time during this stretch of training my body was not up for the challenge. I hit the 10 mile mark and everything from my lower back down was noticeably hurting. At this point I just wanted to make it home even if it resorted to crawling. Luckily the last mile adrenaline kicked in and I was able to finish strong.
I’m not all that surprised by today’s physical breakdown. I have that “I just want to get the race over” feeling for the last week. My body is tired both mentally and physically. I’m looking forward to taking some time off after the race. The 4am wake up calls 4 times a week have taken their toll.
Take aways from this working include:
- Feed to fuel – making sure that everything I eat this week will enhance my run.
- Taper and Rest – Make sure to allow my body to rest and store what I need for the race.
What I saw on my run:
