Week Twelve: 16 Miles -- CarenClark.com Message Board

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Date Posted: 13:19:44 07/22/02 Mon
Author: Caren
Subject: Week Twelve: 16 Miles

16 miles!!!!!!! I never would have thought I'd be able to say I ran 16 miles, but now I can. We're really getting into serious distance now. But I figure if I can do 16, I can do 26. *sniff* I'm so verklempt. Talk amongst yourselves for a moment.

16 miles was a tough run, but it could have been worse. It was very humid, but the sun never broke through the clouds, which made the run much more pleasant. I didn't go into the run with the best frame of mind. I was very nervous and wasn't entirely sure I'd even be able to do the whole 16. I got about 3 hours of sleep the night before. Talking to other people at the site, I found that was pretty common. We all had nerves about this run. I imagine I won't be getting much sleep the night before the marathon.

Because of my hurt quad muscle, I've been taking the last few weeks very easy to try to let it heal. I was a little unsure whether I'd be able to make the jump from 12 miles to 16 miles, especially with the quadricep that still really hurts.

To make things even more interesting, none of the people in my pace group showed up for the 16 mile run, so I had to run with a faster group. I would have preferred to run with a slower group, but the nearest slow group was 3 minutes slower than my pace, and that was just too slow to be of much benefit.

The run started out very well. All pace groups had slowed down a bit to accommodate the long distance, so it was a very comfortable run�at first. I kept waiting for my quad to start hurting, but after 3 miles it hadn�t. I actually thought I�d get through the run without pain. Alas, it was not to be. Around mile 5 it started to hurt and got progressively worse. At mile 10, I knew I wouldn�t be able to keep up with the faster group, so I decided to hang back at the water station in order to pick up the next passing group and run in with them. I ended up waiting about 20 minutes and finally decided to start running in alone before my muscles began to stiffen up and make the trip back too difficult. Fortunately, at the next water stop 2 miles away I did hook up with the slower pace group and ran back with it. All in all, the run took 5 hours when it should have taken 4, but at least the 16 miles had been completed.

I felt pretty queasy after the run. I�m not sure if it was just a natural side-effect of running 16 miles, or the fact that I�d been popping too many anti-inflammatory aspirins on an empty stomach during the run. On the plus side, I did take the most fabulous shower of my life after that run. When you�re achy, sweaty, dirty, and have a sheen of salt covering your body, a cool shower is just about the most amazing feeling in the world.

Next week: 8 mile recovery run

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