Saturday Long Run/Walk on the American Tobacco Trail

Today I started my run on the American Tobacco Trail a little early, getting a mile in before meeting up with the group. (Since George and I are getting ready for a get-together at our home, I thought I'd finish up early with the running.) I ended up finishing with the group, though, and finishing well behind a lot of the group---again. :( With the occasional Garmin Forerunner "malfunction" (me forgeting to restart the Garmin after a water break a couple of times!) I ended up clocking 10.22 miles of run/walking in 3 hrs, 3 min, an 18:06 average pace.

At the end of today's run, one of my pace group leaders suggested today that I try another half marathon instead of going for the full in November. *sigh* I'm not ready to give up on the full marathon yet, not ready to delay the goal for another year. I don't want to be stubborn, but in a way I do want to be stubborn, ya know?!

Okay, so what do you do to get faster?

Speed work is an option, but I don't have access to a track. I've tried some of the electrolyte powders in water during running, but haven't found a flavor I like yet. Any thoughts?

Saturday Long Run

This morning I hit the American Tobacco Trail for my long run, and it felt so good to run outside again. I decided to try a run/walk ration of 5:1, and that worked out really well, by and large, for the first 6 miles. The plantar fasciitis in my left foot has been acting up again, and at mile 6, it hurt bad enough that I needed to do more walking. Bummer. Even still, I ended up doing 8.1 miles in 2 hours, 22 minutes, an average pace of about 5 seconds faster than last week's long run. I'll take that mini-victory!

I discovered that the Circle K convenience store/gas station does not have public restrooms, but the Rite-Aid drugstore does! Woohoo! I used it both on my way out and on the way back. It's only a mile into the run from where I park, but it sure did come in handy. The Solite Park restrooms, at mile 2 from where I park, are closed for the season. These are good things to know!

I noticed a couple of running groups out on the ATT, both of whom passed me. I'll be glad when I'm fast enough to join a regular running group! While running, I thought about forming a running group for people my speed (who want to speed up too!). Hmmmm.