16 miles Later

Well I got my 16 miler done. The weather was perfect, about 57 degrees when we started. Annette and some of the girls had started at 6am as they were doing 20 so I was suppose to meet them at 6:45am. When I got to the parking lot, Annette's friend Susan was there waiting for them too. I went ahead and started running out towards their direction just to start the miles. Three of the girls were running in the parking lot as I was going out but no Annette. I ran out probably 1/2 a mile and there they were. We ran back towards the parking lot to meet up with the others and to do this thing. They had already done about 5 miles so we were all going to run about 7.5 miles out and back. This would entail crossing the Big Dam Bridge. The last time I had ran the bridge I had to walk back 2.5 miles as I had IT problems so I was a little concerned, but then again, I have been doing hill and speed work so it really shouldn't be a problem.

The cool chilly air made running seem almost easy. If it wasn't for the nagging pain in my heel, everything would be good. First mile was pretty much my warm up. When the whole group started running, we never even stopped for a walk break until after 3 miles. Mile 1 was 12:56, mile 2 was 10:28, mile 3 10:13, mile 4 was 11:35. It was after mile 3 that we walked, I had to fix Annette's Garmin as it had been beeping now for two miles. Seems it was full of data so I had to delete some.

The group got ahead of me here as I spent my drinking time working on the Garmin. No big deal, I'm used to running alone a lot so I just ran. Mile 5 was a 10:28, then it was the Big Dam Bridge. I was in no hurry to run fast up the incline here so I walked part of it. All the girls had went to the porta potties so I figured I'd go on and they would catch me later. Little did I know they didn't see me. I guess they freaked out and started looking for me, thinking I was back behind them still on the trail. After I had gotten across the bridge my phone rang. It was Annette wondering where I was. Well, I had thought they had seen me but I guess not. Mile 6 ended up being a 11:50. I ran on...but slower. My heel was hurting at times and I could feel my legs tightening up. (Probably from the bridge too) I hadn't done a GU yet so I decided that I would at mile 7. Hit mile 7 at 12:18...getting slower. I had a Honey gu and an Accel orange gu so I decided to do the honey. I wasted too much time here as I walked over and found a trash can for the gu package. I ran on......I knew I was turning around at mile 8 so one mile to go.

I sorta struggled through mile 8 trying to make up my lost time. I hit the turn around with mile 8 showing a 13:35. I needed to make up a little time now, but I also felt the need to use the bathroom. I knew the restrooms at Murry Park were only a mile or so away so I kept pushing. Pulled an 11:40 out of mile 9, close to my goal of 11:25. Somewhere in here I ran into Brenda and Michelle. They turned around as they had run back looking for me earlier so they didn't need to go as far now. They were soon ahead of me, my feet and legs sore, but everything else was good. My cardio and breathing was very low and just cruising along. I still had gas in the tank, the legs just didn't want to cooperate. I was wishing that I had some motrin or other pain relievers but I really don't like taking that stuff. I saw Annette and Susan but they kept going towards the turn around point. Bathroom break came up.......lost more time.

Mile 10 ended up being 13:56. The bathroom break ate a lot of this up but I tried to make up without running too fast. I must have hit the bridge somewhere between 10 and 11. I did a walk/run up the steep incline this time. Then ran the whole lenght and all the way down. I had actually felt hunger pains earlier so I figured I needed something and my plan was to take an Electrolyte tablet after crossing the bridge. I stretched here also which felt good. Getting started after stopping was beginning to not be any fun. Mile 11 was a 14:25 pace. Time to fly.

As long as I kept running, things felt pretty good. My feet still hurt, but it wasn't getting any worse and it was bearable. I tried to lengthen my stride to see how it felt. My speed picked up and it felt the same. Heart rate was not going up much. I looked back and saw Annette and Susan so I ran a little harder. Hit mile 12 at 11:55. Better. I think I took a walk break just past mile 13. The miles were adding up and I could feel it. Mile 13 pace, 13:39. At 14 I took my Accel Gel as I figured I needed it. Man did it help. I am sold on Accelerade and Accel Gel. Finished 14 at 12:21. I guess the Gel kicked in, because mile 15 I was flying. It was like seeing the finish line, I knew how far it was now and I had run this route many times. My mile 15 pace was 9:30! I wanted 16 so I kept pushing, I hit the parking lot with probably .4 to hit 16 so I ran up the road and turned around. Came in the parking lot and had another .1 to finish out and I did. Mile 16 pace was 10:38. And I could still walk, at least for now!

Afterwards we had a little celebration and picnic since several of the girls had done their last 20 miler before Chicago. The food was awesome. My final time running for the day, 3:11:46 for 16.01 miles with an 11:59 average pace. I'm pretty happy with todays run. My goal was to do 16 in 3 hours and have an 11:25 pace. Well, I missed that but not by a lot. There's always next week!



This was the girls celebrating