12 Miles - 10/5

Todays run was the longest of the training program at 12 miles. I've found that training programs that have a primary goal of simply finishing the race commonly have the race itself being the longest run. On the other hand, I've found that most training programs with a primary goal of a specific time in mind often have training runs longer than the race distance itself. At least, that is what I've found with the training programs for longer (10k and up) races. So I suppose the idea here is that if you can do 12 miles, you can tack on the extra 1.1 miles for the full half marathon distance of 13.1 miles.

Today was also the second day of using the truss, and with it being so close the to race distance, would be the best gauge of whether it would work out or not. I'm glad to report that it worked out perfectly - so I have no hesitation in continuing the training program and participating in the race at all.

To do the 12 miles, I did my 6 mile loop twice, and on the way by the house, I dropped off the used 24 oz bottle of gatorade and picked up a second one I already had prepared. I've really found that these longer runs are much much easier when I drink water along the way. Even a simple indicator such as how much moisture is in my mouth indicates that even after 2 hours of running, I'm still fairly well hydrated. Also, the gatorade provides 50 cal per 8 oz serving, so that ends up being about 300 calories ingested during the run, which is a fairly significant portion of the energy expended during the exercise.

Total Time: 2:03
Total Distance: 12.3 miles
Avg HR: 148

Overall, I felt pretty good. The first 6 miles were not a problem at all. Like the 10 miler a couple weeks ago, I felt things starting to tighten up around the hour and 20 minute mark, but all things considered, that is understandable. After the run, it felt nice to stretch the quads a bit and flex my knees. When I got home, I noticed that my knees were making some cracking sounds, and although they didn't hurt, I decided to ice them for a good 15-20 minutes. I haven't heard any cracking from them since - and I know that many times those sorts of things are not a major deal - especially if there is no pain associated with them.

Also, after todays run, the taper begins. Looking ahead at the training schedule, most of the runs are in the 3-5 mile range, with next weekends run being 8 miles. There is no more speedwork remaining either.