running since 10-10-10

so... it's occured to me that I need to be training for the 1/2 marathon on July 27th that I'd like to run. My "goal" for this half is a 12 minute mile.

Soo... according to the "experienced runner" 1/2 marathon training schedule I've transposed from Coach Joe and TNT onto the late July marathon date... I was supposed to do 10 miles on the weekend I did the ultimate frisbee tournament (which I didn't do).

Last weekend I did 8 miles... a wonderful run starting at OMSI and headed south down the Springwater corridor on the Willamette, over the Sellwood Bridge, up the Willamette Greenway trail on the west side of the river, back to the Hawthorne Bridge. That was 8 miles, and I was able to manage it in roughly 1:29:17, or an 11:09 minute mile pace. The weather was weird in Portland... mid 80's, kinda humid and overcast. I had chosen to wear a short running skort and a tanktop so that as much skin as possible could be cooled by the air.

After that run I treated myself to a 16 oz iced coffee, and went to Foot Traffic to see about trail running shoes. My feet were REALLY sore though, so I think I've developed plantar fasciitis in BOTH feet now. dammit.

This weekend I'm supposed to do 12 miles, but I also wanted to do the Reach the Bridge run (8K) on Sunday morning... which didn't really fit. Ineffect, I decided to try to finish 12 miles on my mom's treadmill while I was housesitting for her. To battle the bore of treadmilling, I had setup my macbook with DVD2 of battlestar gallactica season 1 (not seen by me before) so I could watch while running.

What I hadn't counted on was the lack of airflow in the garage where the treadmill is. I was stifled in moments after starting, and was sweating more than I'm used to. I had to stop running, open more doors, and set up a fan after 1.5 miles. Still, even after improving the ventilation situation, I HAD to stop at 7 miles from various unhappy reasons including fatigue (ok ok. I'll admit my thighs were chafing to the point of rawness... any longer and I'd have started losing skin). I hydrated, ate, and relaxed a bit.. then looked through my mom's workout clothes and was thrilled to find a pair of Hind compression shorts that were long enough to protect the raw patch on the insides of my thighs. I borrowed that for the continuation of my run.

Approx 1 hour after I stopped the 7 mile run, I got back on the treadmill for a 5 mile run. Immediately after starting that run, the lack of airflow got to me again, and I found myself sweating like crazy and needing to walk a bit for every mile ran. My heart was racing like crazy! I was bothered at having to indulge my weakness and walking.. but I also have to admit it's been a LONG WHILE since I've tried to go that kind of distance, so I couldn't rationally push myself too much.

In the end it took me over 90 minutes to go 7.21 miles, and approx 65 minutes to go the last 5 miles. For someone who JUST met a 10 minute miles 10K, both times are kinda sad. I was even pushing myself on this run. All I can guess is that the heat, lack of air flow, and (?) maybe even the altitude was making this training run REALLY difficult for me.

Also, according to my mom's treadmill, I burned over 2000 calories on this run. On the last 12 mile run I did, my garmin said I burnt something like 1200 I think. soooooo... I dunno. This run was harder somehow. Certainly took longer. Aaaah well. This run isn't deciding how well I do on the Lacamas Lake Half.

Plus, I have the 8K Reach the Bridge Run on Sunday morning to shine in. :D