Last Long Run

Yesterday I completed the last long run before the big race; all things considered, it went really well! The night before I ate some tortellini with Portobello mushroom spaghetti sauce (not as tasty as I hoped) and munched on a cookie. I learned the hard way (a few weeks back) that I shouldn't have wine/beer the night before a long run...seems obvious now :-) So, I just had a good amount of water and headed to bed.

In the morning, I was up early and had my standard breakfast: two cups of coffee and a toasted English muffin with peanut butter. I headed to work for about an hour while my food digested, drinking a good share of water (note: I drink *a lot* of water throughout the day...my coworkers think I'm nuts!). Headed home, popped a few jelly beans in my mouth, tucked two packets of fruit chews in my pockets, strapped on my iPod shuffle and stepped out the door feeling pretty excited. I decided to do the same route I did last weekend: an out-and-back loop (5 miles), repeated two times, plus adding on extra to get my 90minutes.

Last weekend, I did each leg of the loop in a little over 20 minutes...this week, I kept each loop closer to 19:30-45 minutes! I felt a little strained during the last leg, but it was surprisingly my fastest! I kept going to get my time to 95minutes and then walked for about 5minutes to cool-down. I felt pretty good, but unsure if I could have kept that pace up much longer...

The temperature was around 71degrees in the sun...pretty warm and I didn't stop for water at any point during the run. I ate a packet of fruit chews around 60 minutes and I think it really helped. They seemed to go down okay without water, too, though I think it would have been a little easier with at least a sip! I was certain I was somewhat dehydrated at the end, since I had a pretty good dusting of salt on my face, legs, and arms, so I headed back inside for a little Powerade (wish the hubby had Gatorade, instead) and water. Dinner was pizza and a beer...a little indulgence is a great reward for a long run! There was also a small scoop of Phish food later on...yummy :-)

Wow...long post! Sorry for all the details :-) I'm pretty sure next week's race will go okay, as long as I go out slow enough (shooting for 8 minute miles for the first bit...the course was a *little* hilly) and make sure I have enough energy (ie. food). I did make the mistake of telling a coworker who ran the race last year (and who later qualified and ran Boston!) that I wanted to run 7:30-8:00minute miles. Why did I need to open my mouth?! I should have just said "I hope to finish the race!"

Anyways, good luck to those with races tomorrow! I'm looking forward to race reports in the coming days :-)