10 miles

Last night was 10 miles. Here's the route-

Start from the house, run over to Arcadia Park, down around the golf course and park, up Santa Anita to Sierra Madre Blvd, over to Baldwin (mile 7 - 1:36), back to the house.

Time: 2 hrs. Just about exactly 2 hours. Really 1:59:45. So let's just call that 2 hours to make the math much easier. 2 hr = 12mm pace.

Let see...knees started to bug me around mile 6. Since we did the Firecracker 10K last week, and my knees didn't bug me then, maybe it was my gracefullness of the fall last week that did something. We'll see over time. And my calves started to get REALLY tight around mile 8. That can be dealt with over time, I think. My feet started to hurt between miles 8 and 9, especially around the heels. Could that have something to do with the tight calves? Maybe. I thought I needed new shoes since they felt unresponsive. But maybe it was me and not the shoes. I have to figure out how many miles I have on them. I don't think I have many miles on them though. So right now I have to put the problem on me.

So the purpose of doing 10 miles, besides Just Doing 10 miles, was to concentrate on form. I lost my form during the Firecracker 10K. Well I didn't lose it, I forgot to work on it until...mile 5. DUH! During the first mile, warmup really, I didn't think about it. Until I remembered and noticed how my body was feeling, like I was bending at the hips. I hate that! I see old people run like that. So...remember to keep my chest up, feel like I'm leading from my hips and not sitting or squating when I run ( and I'm using the term running loosely).

When I got to mile 4, I felt good. I felt like I could run all night. Even when I got to Sierra Madre Blvd, I still felt good. Maybe it was form. Maybe because I filled my water bottles with Ultima and not just plain water. To the Rec center, still felt OK, but wishing I was wearing my reflective vest. Had my lights, and I thought I would stay on sidewalks all the way, but I really prefer running on the asphalt. Around Mountain Trail I started to hurt and fade. Walk half a block and take a drink. Touch the Stop sign, turn around and head on home!!!!

Since it's downhill most of the way, I felt OK until I hit Whispering Oaks. I could start to feel the fatigue in my legs but at that pace, I could breath normally. That's a good sign, I think Or it means I wasn't pushing myself enough. Oh well, I'll work that out later. On Colorado, around 5th, my calves felt like they might cramp up. That's when I encountered the barking dog in the middle of the street. I stopped and walked, not wanting to be chased by it. It stayed in the middle of the road, barking. Every time I turned around and called it over, it turned around. Good. Maybe it was going home. I turned around to walk away, and it would go back into the middle of the street to bark. We played this scenario a number of times, each time I walked further and further away. I didn't want this dog to get hit, but I didn't want to chase him either. I don't know if this dog was frightened or was playing some type of game. But cars were going by and it was in the middle, barking at me. Since I was the center of it's attention, I thought it best to leave.

That pace was all on me. Can't blame the long stop lights. Can't blame the dog barking at me in the middle of the road. Why do I seem to attract these loose dogs that won't let me save them? Can't blame anything. Nope. It's all on me. But if I do a constant 12 mm pace, that puts my half marathon at 2:36. So now I know a realistic time. Now, let's see if I can get that to improve to sub 2:30? Maybe let's even shoot for a 2:20. That may be doable. That would be around a 10:41 pace. Can I increase my pace over 13 miles from 12 mm to 10:41?