The Longest Long Run

I planned today's run a few days ago- there's a trail in Plano that is just over 6 miles long and since I needed to run 12 miles it was easy math to plan an out-and-back run. Voila! 12 straight miles, one turn around, no getting lost.

I knew it was going to be windy, so I looked up the direction of the wind to be sure I ran against it at the beginning when I was fresh. South wind. Perfect. I started on the north end. I drove to the trail, got out, walked to the starting point, did a couple of light stretches before deciding the wind sucked and I walked back to my car. I wanted to postpone the run until a nicer day, but I have a 15k on Saturday and I knew my legs needed as much rest between this long run and the race. So, I grabbed my jacket out of the car (I was wearing a running skirt and short sleeve tee in 50 degree weather with a 20 mph wind) and headed back to the start. The wind was brutal! For much of those first 6 miles I told myself I HAD to run the 6 miles and if the run back toward the north was just as miserable I could call Jake to pick me up. When I wasn't thinking about the wind, I was thinking about porta potties. I know my map showed several bathrooms along this trail! There was one at 4.5 miles, so I stopped there on the way "out" and "back". I've never had to stop for a potty break and this run got me twice. The run back was better up until about mile 9.5. At 9.5 I told myself I could walk once I made it to 10. At 10 I told myself I was fine and could walk once I made it to 10.5. I ended up walking a tenth of a mile at 10.5. I walked a lot more than I would have liked in that last mile. My total time was 2:20. Average pace was 11:38. This was my slowest long run (I think) but some of that time was spent in the bathroom and walking. The good news is that hopefully I run the half in less time. The bad news is that I have to squeeze another mile into that time. The best news is that today was my longest scheduled run as part of my training for the half marathon. My 15k will count as a taper run for next week and I'll do another 9ish miler the following week. I was pretty tired and sore for most of the day but I'm feeling pretty decent now.

After picking the kids up from preschool, we went to Run On. Jake got new running shoes which earned me a sticker to the VIP Porta Potties at my half. Pretty fabulous, right? I bought 2 new pairs of socks (new brand for me so maybe they'll prevent the blisters I've been getting), a slimmer running belt for when I don't want to carry water (I'll try it for the 15k but I anticipate using it at the half if all goes well), a new kind of snack to try while I'm running, and some fancy detergent that's supposed to remove all of the fabric softener from my workout gear. Apparently fabric softener blocks the pores that helps that fancy sweat wicking fabric do it's thing. I like shopping at competitor running stores. I get different opinions and information. We're lucky and have 3 in the area.