I did it – 9 miles on the treadmill

As I’m getting closer to the half-marathon, the runs are getting longer.  At least the “long runs”, which are once a week, on the weekend.  The longest runs I’ll do during the week are 4-6 miles, which I can now easily do on the treadmill – only because I like the early morning workouts and it’s too dark to be running outside right now.  So the treadmill it is, at least for the weekday runs. 

I started doing the weekend runs outside, esp as it got a little warmer.  It’s nice to be outside for a few reasons.  It makes the time pass as the scenery changes.  Once I get going, I have to get my tush back home, right?  So it’s not as easy to wimp out and not do the run.  Hills!  There are hills where I live, so I get those in.  And, it takes a while, for me at least, to get used to the transition beween treadmill-outside running, or outside running-treadmill.  Getting in these once-a-week outside runs has been fine for me.  (Next time I pick a race, remind me to pick one where it’s late enough in the season to get in more outdoor training!    )

This weekend’s run – 9 miles.  This weekend’s weather – CRAPPY!!!  It’s been raining all weekend, and there’s still the possibility of snow today!  (I’ll believe it when I see it!)  It’s raining w/hail right now.  So I had to go inside to the treadmill.  I’ve never done more than 60 minutes (~6 miles) on the treadmill.  And when the machine hits 60 minutes, it goes into cooldown mode.  So I had to come up with a game plan.  At first it was going to be 3×30 min, with 5 min “breaks” in between.  Breaks would consist of refilling water, bathroom break, and some type of energy (gu, chews).  But when I got on, I decided to stretch it out, thinking I wouldn’t need the energy so frequently – I aimed for 2×45 min sections, with a 5 min brerak.  Long story short – I did it!!!  I did it!!!  And it wasn’t that bad, either.

Here’s the break down:  at 1.8 miles, I pulled the emergency cord ‘cuz it was dangling.  oops.  Got back on for 2.7 miles, then had my break.  Refilled water bottle.  Quick bathroom break.  Decided on the Luna Moons to eat.  Got back on the treadmill.  It took a while to fully feel comfortable back running again – catching my breath, getting my stride, etc.  But I was fine.  I’ve never had to consume anything while running, so this was a first.  And it was definitely challenging.  It was hard to eat the chews because it threw my breathing off.  And the chews are really chewy, and get caught in my teeth, which I then try to pick out!  If I can find sports beans again, I’ll try those, as well as the gu.  I want to try these all at least once before the race – since they say you shouldn’t try anything new on race day.

But in the end – I survived.  It was a great run.  The bits of pain weren’t too bad, and I can’t believe I did it!!!  Let’s just hope for nice weather on each of the next 5 weekends!