Sheri - Back from the Brink

Saturday was my scheduled longest run in my half marathon training plan—15 miles.  Two weeks ago I ran 14 miles, which was also my longest to date.  That went well, so I was feeling fairly confident going just one more mile.  Hubby was also planning a run, so I thought we might try running together for a bit, then he could take Maggie home when they were both tired.

Just so happens that JC Penney was offering one of their Saturday morning sales, and since I was in desperate need of some brown dress pants that do not make me look like I am wearing a diaper, I went for a bit of shopping prior to running.  I still have some clothes that I bought when I was about 15 pounds from goal weight, and they just look a wee bit sloppy, so I’m replacing them when I find a good sale.  So I searched the racks for some size 4’s and some new tops and made my way to the dressing room.  I was surprised that I still feel a panic-y anxiety just before I pull on a new pair of size 4 pants.  I get this fear that they won’t fit over my thighs and hips or button comfortably.  For many years while my weight was going up and I was avoiding the scale, the fit of my pants was my main accuser.  I would try to wear an older pair of pants, and they would tell me in no uncertain terms that my fat ass was even fatter.  Or I would squeeze into them, and feel that uncomfortable feeling all day of the waistband cutting into my midsection, leaving a deep red mark by the end of the day.

Long story (not so) short, the size 4’s fit fine, maybe even just a bit loose.  I got them for $16 each, which was much better than the $30 ‘sale’ price Kohl’s was trying to get for their similar dress pants.  I find it interesting that Kohl’s is now devoting about a third of their women’s section floor space to clearance racks, while their newer items seem way overpriced even when they are on sale.  This doesn’t seem like a sustainable business model.

Anywho, this is supposed to be a long run blog post.  After I got back home, and after much explaining to the husband about how and when we would meet up to run together, I finally made it out the door with Maggie at about 12:30.  I fueled up with a banana prior, and took my Cytomax and package of ShotBloks with me to get me through my expected 2 ½ hour run.  The weather was fabulous (partly cloudy and in the 60’s), so I wore shorts and a wicking tank top.  My target pace for this run was my planned Half Marathon Pace plus 30 seconds, or 10:11 minutes/mile.  It has been challenging for me in the past to slow down to this pace, so my thinking was that I would have to slow down while I ran with hubby, then I could speed up later to make up the difference.  My comfortable long run cruising pace seems to be about 9:50 minutes/mile, but I’m trying to follow the FIRST plan closely to give it a fair test.

Once I met up with hubby at the park, I was at about mile 6.  The one time I checked, my Nike+ said we were going at just over a 11:30 mile pace.  Hubby made it about 1 mile at that pace, then we slowed down a bit to catch his breath.  After the 2nd mile, he took some walk breaks while I ran ahead slowly and then ran back to him.  By the 3rd mile, I started running ahead and back faster so I’d lose less time.  I was literally running circles around him. He was pretty spent by three miles, and Maggie was happy to go home with nearly nine miles for her day.  I ate half my package of ShotBloks and kept going at closer to my planned HMP.  By mile 10 it started to rain, and kept raining for about 30 minutes.  I told myself ‘what’s a little rain when you’re already hot and sweaty?’  By the time I got past 13 miles, I was really starting to feel the increased pace, but would rather just put my head down and run and be done.  The real discomfort started after I finished, and was doing my cool down walk home, ouch!  My legs were so sore, I was limping.  But I hit my target pace exactly for the 15 miles, so mission accomplished.

I whined enough to convince hubby to make me a fruit smoothie to refuel, thanks sweetie!  After that, a hot shower and some naprosen took the edge off for the rest of the day.  I didn’t feel totally spent like I do after a race, just stiff and sore and kind of old.  And, um, yeah, I don’t feel at all tempted to train for a marathon this year with those 18 and 20 mile training runs.  I’ll stick with the half marathon thank you very much.