10 Miler before the 10 Miler

This post is a day late, but I was so wiped last night that I didn't have the energy to face all that goes into writing about the run (though in reality it's not actually that much, I'll admit). Anyway, I hadn't eaten since noon, then went out for my run without any snack beforehand, not carrying any Gatorade or anything, just running. It was nice to be able to go for 16km without having to fuss with any of that stuff! I still remember how 12k seemed like such an accomplishment and left me completely drained, leg muscles sore as hell. Now when I say "long run" I mean at least 20k.

Anyway, I ran pretty steady, though hit a big hill with about 4k to go, and managed to finish in 1:27:52 for an average pace of 5:29/km (8:50/mile). The heart rate averaged out to 143bpm with a bit of a spike in the 13th kilometre where I hit Beachwood Ave. and decided to try and hold a decent pace rather than preserve my heart rate in the high 130s or low 140s.

By the time I got home, foam rolled, showered, and then sat down to dinner it was 9pm and I was feeling really exhausted, literally falling asleep at the table. In fact, I felt nauseous and could barely get any food down. I forced myself to eat a bit before crawling to bed. This morning I felt much better, though I think I have to be more aware of my nutritional requirements on these runs that last well over an hour in the future. Even if I no longer feel like 16k is a long run, that doesn't mean that my body agrees with me.

Tomorrow morning is the Toronto 10 Miler, and I am so not up for this race. I knew long ago that I would be running this event as a training run, but now I barely seem interested in even doing that. I could just as easily run the distance out of my front door without all the fuss and hubbub that comes with getting to the starting line and crossing the finish, then getting home. Anyway, still unsure of what pace I will be attempting, but I still have that 4:54/km in the back of my mind (my theoretical marathon pace, as fast as that is and as daunting as it seems to me right now). I also noticed in one of the several marathon training plans that I refer to (this time I think it was the FIRST plan for first time marathoners, a handy tool since it sets all the paces based on a 45 minute 10k, pretty much bang on for me) that this week's long run says I should do 13 miles (21k) at 5:07/km pace. Perhaps I will decide to run at this pace instead. Either way I am planning to run home after the race (either nice and easy or at the slightly slower pace noted above, which is still very challenging) to make the mileage add up to something over 20k in total. We'll see how it goes, but now I must off to sleep.

Garmin don't lie.