Half Marathon to finish the week

I was scheduled to do 13-miles to finish out my week, but being that Grellan and Thomas ran their outstanding half-marathons today in Ireland, I felt compelled to "up it" to 13.1 and join in on the fun!  (I know, I know - that extra 0.1, HUGE sacrifice on my part!!)

Slight difference in our paces, however.  Unlike those guys that "race" 13+ miles, I'm lucky if I can "finish" 13 miles.  Since coming back from the injury I have done exactly two runs over 9-miles, one 10-miler and one 11-miler.  This was going to be tough for me, especially since the course is in the trails w/ two 1.5 mile climbs at a 4.5% grade.  

I did my usual on longer runs and started slow and after a few miles started ramping up the pace a bit.  I was surprised how low my HR was for the entire run - average wound up being just 151.  For me, that's quite low at this point in my running.  

All in all, the run went fine.  I finished my "half-marathon" in 1:37:55.  (ave pace of about 7.5 minutes/mile) I'm certainly not used to this distance, I was feeling sore in a few areas shortly afterwards.  When I get to the point where I'm doing a 12-14 miler every week I'm sure this will get better, but for right now I just need to build up the distance slowly.

Speaking of distance, my week finished up at 43 miles which is a new record for me.  And several of those miles were run about or under 7 minute pace.  The running for the week shaped up like this:  (not including workouts @ the gym)

M:  No running

Tu:  9 miles, including 5-miles @ 7:09 pace

We: 6-miles, including 3 x 1-mile @ 5:58, 5:55, 5:51

Th:  No running

F:   9-miles, including 5-miles @ 6:48 pace

Sa:  6-miles easy

Su:  13-miles @ 7:30 pace

Congrats once again to Grellan and Thomas for a job well done.

Training:

9/13:  weightlifting (upper-A, abs) stretching, rolling

6-miles @ 7:28 pace, HR - 146  ** Note - this is about the same pace as last Sat's 6-miler, but the HR is significantly lower this week.  (last week - 153)

9/14:  13+ miles @ about 7:30 pace, HR - 151.