Saturday, October 11, 2008

18 miles in 3h 38m in LSP today morning

Ahhhhh, I ache all over! Put myself through an 18 mile run for the first time today morning, and it shows up in every part of my body :-)

After prepping myself mentally for a week (since finishing the Grete's Gallop Half-Marathon last Saturday) I was still very nervous and scared as I made my way to Liberty State Park this morning. Couldn't help laugh at the notion that I would be running for four hours today!

Started the run a little before 8:00 AM and completed a little before 11:40 AM. Had plans to start earlier - maybe around 6:30 AM or 7:00 AM - but was glad that it was 8:00 AM by the time I started as it was very chilly today morning. The temperatures were in the mid-50s and the Sun was just rising at that time.

The first three miles were a pain as with the last week's run. After that it became much easier to run. Started from the Parking lot close to the Columbus Monument, and ran along the various paved running paths in the park, always making sure that I come back to the Parking lot (and my car) every 2 to 3 miles. My car was stuffed with Gatorade bottles and some stuff for me to snack on and continue refreshed.

Completed the half marathon distance in 2h 36 minutes, which was much slower than last week's run.

The last three or four miles were a drag; just kept going - telling myself it is only a 5K I have to cover!

3h 38m was much better than I expected of my first shot at an 18 miler. I guess my first shot at the marathon distance will be a similar experience as well. One big difference would be that the watching crowd and fellow runners will motivate me to do much better at the Philly Marathon!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm glad you can run 18 miles. I barely manage 5 miles. 20 miles is where the wall is.

prakash murthy said...

Thanks Krishnan, It is really a matter of time before you can run 18 miles as well. As for the wall, I will figure it out on Nov 23rd in Philadelphia ;-)

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