Week 9: Ten and a half miles

20:40 second run/walk ratio
2:47 hours
10.5 miles?

Well, I got my running app all messed up, so I don't really know how many miles exactly or what my pace was, but assuming I managed to maintain around 16 minute/miles, I did my 10.5 miles today. I know I was slower than usual because of the heat, and I did three complete loops of Meadowbrook Park, plus one more lower loop, which is at least 10 miles, so I'm calling it good.

What happened was that I forgot to switch on the GPS again, and was at least half a mile into my run when I remembered. I didn't want to restart the whole workout, so I just turned on GPS and continued, not knowing whether it would be able to switch on the fly. Turns out it couldn't. I kept on getting my intervals, but it wasn't keeping track of miles or pace at all. I noticed when I got to the top of the upper loop, which should have been around two miles, it said I had 10.21 miles to go! I checked again when I got back to the parking lot, and it was still at 10.21 miles. So it had just stopped counting when I switched GPS on. So I switched GPS back off and carried on. Now it started counting down miles again, but it lost the three miles I did while I had GPS on. Plus, who knows how accurate the "miles to go" are when it's not using the GPS.

Anyway, I figured I knew the approximate length of the loops, so I could just ignore what the app said and do four lower loops plus three upper loops and that would be close enough. Actually, I was going to do part of an extra loop for the extra half mile plus cool down, but I was getting kind of icky at the end and I think that doing the outside run on the lower loop is maybe more than a mile, so I skipped it. Bleah.

Anyway, the run got done, whether it was 10 miles or 10.5 or 12 (which is what my Health app said I did, heh), and it went reasonably well. I got up at 6 AM and was at the park ready to run by 7 AM, so I was able to finish before 10 AM and avoid the worst of the heat. My stomach was a bit wobbly, probably from getting up so early, but didn't really trouble me until the end. I'd brought a Power Bar with me to try, and at a few bites and drank some water right before the last mile, but I don't think my stomach liked it. May have to go back to goo. I think I can get that at Big 5.

I am still trying to figure out how to bring water along with me. I've been looking at hydration belts online, can't find one I like that has water bottles plus a pouch big enough for my phone & keys & hankie & foods. Finally, went to Big 5 yesterday and bought one there, but it's designed more for hiking than running and is very big and sort of clumsy. It has two water bottles and a big pouch, and when I got it home, it felt like the bottles would bump my elbows while I run, and that would be a big annoyance after a while. For today, I ended up just putting a bottle of water in my truck bed and stopping after every loop to grab a drink. It worked okay, but by the end I think I needed water more often. I really need to carry it with me.

I think I will mess around with the one I bought and see if I can do anything with it. Maybe if I cut one of the water bottle holders off, I can use it with just one bottle and pouch tucked behind me enough not to bump my elbows. Or maybe take the extra holder and put a loop on it and hang it on my belt. And just pick something to order online and try it.