Girl with the Pink Hat: Long Run and Family Fun!

Happy Monday! Wow, the days are just flying by! Yesterday (Sunday) started at 7:30 a.m. with a large piece of toast with peanut butter, 1/2 a banana and a small cup of coffee. By 8:15 I was on the road for my first 9 mile run since last Fall. I was really, really nervous and did not sleep well the night before. It is kinda weird that before a long run I tend to stress out a little and worry that I wont make it, even if it is just a training run.

Does anyone else get stressed before a long training run?

Well all my worrying was for nothing because I made it! Here are my splits:

Distance: 9 miles
Duration: 1:17:58

Mile 1: 9:10
Mile 2: 8:27
Mile 3: 8:23
Mile 4: 8:23
Mile 5: 8:24
Mile 6: 8:24
Mile 7: 9:14 (I was trying to navigate getting over a bridge and had to walk up some stairs)
Mile 8: 8:44
Mile 9: 8:46

I noticed that my first mile is always the slowest and my last one or two are a little slower, but overall my times are pretty consistent. I think having a Garmin helps a lot. With the Garmin I am able to pace myself better because I can occasionally look down at my watch to confirm I running at an even pace.

Also, after my first mile I started to get really tired and all I could think of was that I have 8 miles to go. To solve this "negative thinking" I broke my run into 3 parts and took a break to stretch twice during the run (after 3 miles and then again after 6). This helped A LOT because I only had to think 2 miles or 1 mile to go until I can stop for a second. I also think this helps to prevent injury because I was constantly stretching instead of waiting until the end. However, I am unsure how this will transfer to racing because I will (hopefully) not stop during the race. We will see how it goes on future runs, but I think the two positive reasons outweigh the possibility of having to stop during the race. I also did not include the stop in my overall time.

Do you think it is good to stop during a long run? Do you count the stop in your overall time?

Once home, I stretched and iced my knees for 15 minutes. After a nice long shower I had a blueberry Chobani with my other 1/2 of banana and 1/4 cup of Raisin Bran Cereal. I also had another cup of coffee.

Then I was on the road, again!! My Uncle and his family are visiting from New Jersey and rented a home on the Cape near another Uncle's summer home. So Evan and I took a day trip to the Cape to spend time with Dad's family.

Once we arrived, I was ready to eat again! I had a small ham and cheese sandwich, fruit salad, and a few pieces of crackers and cheese on the patio while we caught up with my family from New Jersey.

Once we were full from lunch we headed over to my other uncle's house and played with all his water toys.

Evan and Jon (my brother)

We then enjoyed some cocktails (I had a margarita) on the porch, while my Uncle fired up the grill.

Dinner was a smorgasbord of meats and salads. I do not care for mayonaise, so I just stuck to regular salad (not pasta salad) and meat (1 chicken tip, 1/2 burger, 2 steak tips).