Week 15: Seventeen miles

20:40 second run/walk ratio
5:05:59 hours
17.58 miles
17.4 minutes/mile

Got my 17-mile run done! I'm somewhat disappointed in my time, but oh well. I should be able to do better in the actual marathon—I'll be better trained, the weather should be cooler, and there won't be as many hills.

The weather wasn't too bad, though. The high today was supposed to be  82 F but it looks like it won't go over 80 F. It's about 75 F right now. It was partly cloudy most of the morning with a slight breeze, so I never felt overheated.

I got up at 5 AM and got to the park and started my run at 6:30 AM. It was cool then. I wore my shorts and black short-sleeved shirt, with the long-sleeved running shirt over it for the first three or four miles. When it warmed up enough, I took off the long-sleeved shirt and left it in the truck. That worked pretty well. I wasn't too cold for the first hour, or too hot for the rest of the time.

I felt pretty good most of the time—I just got tired! For one thing, I was in Disneyland earlier in the week, and I'm not sure I was completely recuperated from that. I walked over 12 miles on Monday, and over 7 miles on Tuesday, plus all the driving. I didn't feel too tired, but I have been sleeping in a bit these past few days, which didn't help, either, when I had to get up early this morning and probably didn't get enough sleep last night. So I guess I have a pretty good excuse for a slow run today.

I also don't think I got enough to eat. I had a protein drink at home before I left to start me off, but I only brought one gel thing with me. It was extra large, so I thought it would go for two servings, but it was a thin kind of applesauce-y thing that was only one serving, and I got hungry again and didn't have anything else to eat. Must remember to take more food on these long runs.

I made one bathroom stop—fortunately, the bathrooms were unlocked this time! I didn't pause my app, but it only took a couple of minutes so I don't think it added much to my time.

In any case, I got it done and it went pretty well, if a bit slow. I'll be doing the long runs every third week from now on, so the next two weeks are five-milers. I'll be able to rest up and be ready for the next mileage increase—20 miles in three weeks!