Good morning! How is it Monday again already?! Weekends just go by way too fast around here.
Yesterday, before taking my friend Jessica to the airport, we headed out to the Tobacco Trail in Durham for a workout.
I had 10 miles on the docket (for my Tobacco Road Half Marathon, Tarheel 10 Miler, and Reach the Beach Relay training!), and Jess wanted to get in a workout of her own before sitting on planes all day.
We each set out on our own and decided to meet back by the car in an hour and a half. This was the first time I’ve run on my own in ages, but I was actually looking forward to trying to work on speed and my mental game a bit before the races. Well, unfortunately my legs had other ideas. They were SO tired the whole time, right from mile 1. Saturday’s power yoga class must have been harder than I realized! (And the glasses of wine I had on Saturday night probably didn’t help, either). At least my stomach felt good — I had my standard pre-run toast with almond butter and banana before we headed out.
To push through even though I wasn’t feeling super energized, I tried to focus on the fact that the weather was beautiful and it was nice to be out and about. At the turnaround at mile 5, I stopped to stretch quickly and eat my fuel — an apple cinnamon Hammer Gel. I also had my CamelBak with me for water the whole time. Gotta hydrate!
I’d never had that flavor of Hammer Gel before — I think I got it in my Vegas Half Marathon race packet? I usually rock the espresso flavor and will stick with that one in the future because I like that it has a little caffeine in it. 🙂 Must go buy some more!
I was SO happy to see my watch beep 10 miles. Whew! I did it.
Splits:
- Mile 1: 8:22
- Mile 2: 8:52
- Mile 3: 8:42
- Mile 4: 9:14
- Mile 5: 9:04
- Mile 6: 8:52
- Mile 7: 8:57
- Mile 8: 9:19
- Mile 9: 8:57
- Mile 10: 9:01
Total miles: 10. Total time: 1:29:21. Average pace: 8:56.
As you can see, I really hit a wall around mile 4 (and it didn’t help that the trail was slightly uphill then, too). Stopping at mile 5 briefly to regroup and eat my fuel helped my spirits for a bit and I felt better on the way back than I did on the way out, but still not great. Oh well — my pace was still great considering and I pushed through and finished even though I didn’t want to, so I was proud of myself. 🙂
After our respective workouts, I took Jess over to one of my favorites, Foster’s in Durham, for brunch!
Jess and I always love ordering two things and sharing them so we both get to enjoy more of the menu! I ordered the BLT Omelette:
And she ordered the biscuit breakfast sandwich (topped with unpictured bacon):
And we shared!
The other biscuit that came with my omelette went to Jess to enjoy later during her long day of traveling. 🙂 I also had an unpictured latte and everything was so delicious — there’s nothing quite like bacon, eggs, and biscuits after a long run. (Will Run for Bacon!)
What’s your favorite post-long run treat? I’m also a huge fan of chocolate milk! Great mix of hydration, protein, and carbs — and delicious, of course!
