Week #5 - Day 4

Well, I hit two milestones with today's run. It was my first 10-mile run (yeah, double digits!) and my first week over 20-miles (21 to be exact). I managed to roll out of bed at 7am and get down to the park a little after 8 before it got too hot. Unfortunately, it was still wicked humid that early. But today was the first day I had my new Camelbak, so I was ready for good hydration.

I headed north on the towpath, so my 5th mile was run in territory that was new to me which is always cool. I was feeling alright though I was really getting hot because of the humidity and the rising temp. I slowed down briefly at the 5 mile point to get some water down. The Camelbak isn't quite as efficient as I had hoped. It takes some good effort to suck the water out of there, and it doesn't really come all that fast. And I found I was not so good at doing it while running, so I had to walk when trying to get water. After my brief water break (about 30 seconds), I started back up though my body was less than enthused. During miles 6 & 7, I slowed a couple times to get water down and hope for my second wind. Well, the second wind never really came, but I managed to go the last 3 miles without stopping, though those last 2 miles seemed to last forever.

Finally the big 82 bridge came into site and I finished my 10 miles in a time of 1:33:35 (9:21.5 mi pace). A little slower than my target time of 1:30, but not too bad. I'm thinking that the marathon conditions in October will be much better than the hot, humid days of the summer. My body is the sorest it has been since I started my training, so I am really looking forward to some rest. I might try to go biking some tomorrow, though no hills for me this week. I don't need sore legs for Monday's run like I had last week. So now 5 weeks down, 11 to go!