{"id":759,"date":"2012-12-10T11:30:38","date_gmt":"2012-12-10T16:30:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/millheiser.com\/hokeyblog\/?p=759"},"modified":"2012-12-10T11:30:38","modified_gmt":"2012-12-10T16:30:38","slug":"running-update-my-18-mile-splits-or-you-can-bend-me-you-can-break-me-but-you-better-stand-clear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/millheiser.com\/hokeyblog\/2012\/12\/10\/running-update-my-18-mile-splits-or-you-can-bend-me-you-can-break-me-but-you-better-stand-clear\/","title":{"rendered":"Running update: My 18-mile splits, or: “You can bend me, you can break me, but you better stand clear…”"},"content":{"rendered":"

So I completed my first 18-mile run over the weekend. Unfortunately I had to do it solo, as we hit a friend’s wedding in Bokeelia from Friday through Sunday, so I was without the support of my awesome running compadres in FIT. Now that I train with a group, I have no idea how I ever managed to do it without them. Doing this by myself was tedious and (dare I say?) a bit lonely? Perish the thought. I’m supposed to be a loner, right? RIGHT?<\/p>\n

Anyway, 18 miles is my longest distance to date, so I’m pretty pleased over that accomplishment. The thought of layering on another 8 miles on top of that isn’t so much frightfully intimidating as it is the Ground Zero of all my Superpowers of Denial.<\/p>\n

Anyway… so I did 18 miles in 03:24:54, at an average pace of 11:19 and burning off 3,133 calories (shyeah…). Here’s da splits, courtesy of me lovely Garmin:<\/p>\n

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Our Garmin, which art on my wrist, forgive my slamming into the Mile 17 Wall…<\/p><\/div>\n

I had no preconceptions on how I wanted this to go down. If it’s a new long distance goal, you generally just want to finish upright and strong. Strangely enough, I was able to maintain a mostly consistent pace. At least until Mile 17, where if you squint enough you can see the not-so-faint outline of the actual wall I slammed into. Those last two miles were pretty rough. My breathing was fine, my energy levels seemed solid, but I simply could not will my body to move any faster than it was going.<\/p>\n

No matter. I finished. I’ll take it.<\/p>\n

There’s still plenty of speed work and daily conditioning to be done over the next month, but long runs for the rest of the training period include two more 12-milers and a 21-mile behemoth on 12\/22. And then, that’s it until showtime. Am I going to do it in costume? I’m actually considering it…<\/p>\n