Hello 10 Mile Run!

Hello old friend.  I haven't seen you in years.  You make my calves and feet hurt.

Just kidding... about a 10 mile run being my friend.  The pain is real, though.  I haven't run 10 miles in a day in a few years.  My running group goes out every Saturday and does a long run together except when there is a race.  I have been running with this group since August 2010 and this was the first time I did the long run with them.  Late bloomer I guess.

I needed this.  If I was trying to run this by myself, I would have done one of two things and possibly both.  First, I wouldn't have run this fast.  I would have averaged at least a minute slower per mile pace.  Second, I probably would have given up after 7 miles.

There were water and Gatorade stops at different points along the way and that helped tremendously.  I stopped  at all of them.  They lasted 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, and 2 minutes.  The first break was like a warmup stop a little after a mile.  There were 7 runners in our group.  We split up into 10 mile and 12 mile groups at the first break.  3 of us stuck together for the 10 mile run.  The second pit stop helped me catch my breath around the 4 mile mark.  Within half a mile, I told the other 2 guys that I was going to slow down a little  and for them to keep going.  I didn't want to slow them down.  By the time we hit the next break around 7 miles, I was about 300 meters behind them.  I was toast at this point.  I drank up and stretched for a total of 7 minutes.  It was a little too long of a rest, because my legs felt a little stiff when I started up again.  I tried to keep up the pace, but could not do it.  I made my way about a mile and a half to the next water break, which I didn't see until I was right on top of it.  My left calf was cramped at that point.  I knew I only had a little more to go, so I pushed on.

Because I was tired and my calf was hurting, I started to alter my form for the worse.  I am a fore foot striker and started pushing my feet forward into the ground with each step.  This made my toes start hitting the fronts of my running shoes.  Not good, because I can feel the two long ones starting to bruise.  As I type, they are already turning red.  They'll probably be purple by tonight and black tomorrow.  Good bye toenails in a couple weeks.  All in all, I have 2 bruised toes and 3 blisters.  One of the blisters was filled with blood.  Those are always cool.  I am of the faith that popping them as soon as possible is the best medicine by relieving the pressure and therefore ridding the body of pain.

I plan on heading to Track Shack today sometime and signing up for next Saturday's race - Season's 52 Park Avenue 5.2k.  It is my first time running this race and since the distance is just over 5k, I am guaranteed a PR!!!

Summary of today's long run... 10 miles.  1:41 total time on the road.  17 minutes spent at water breaks.  Total run time:  1:24 which is an average pace of 8:24.