11 miles

Today my marathon training plan called for an 11 mile run.  I hadn't had a double digit run since my first half marathon on January 1st.  I was excited to see what I was capable of running considering my progress since then.

On January 1st, I averaged 11:05 minute miles.  It was a pace I was positive I could improve upon.  At my 15K last weekend, I averaged 9:55 minute miles.

As I set out on my 11 mile run this morning I wanted to average 10:30 minute miles.  I thought that would be a good pace since I was going to be setting out on my own.  I am sure if I had somebody to run with or someone to chase, I could have done a little bit faster pace.  I find it hard to just make myself go faster sometimes.

The weather was great 40 when I started and 58 when I finished 2 hours later.  However, I did realize that my body was a little confused by the heat.  I know that it will be worse when the Texas summer hits, but I will have had a chance to acclimate myself by then.

I should have done a better job planning my route.  I thought that the run to the lake would have been a little longer than it actually was.  So I had to try and figure out where else I could go to add more distance.  All that thinking slowed me down.  You laugh, but those were actually my slowest miles.

I have also decided that running by the lake is nice, but with no one "watching" me, I tend to run a little slower.  I need the illusion that people are watching me so that I don't slow down. 

I was able to successfully average a 10:30 pace, exactly.  Here are the splits:

Mile 1: 10:36

Mile 2: 10:21

Mile 3: 10:33

Mile 4: 10:13

Mile 5: 10:11

Mile 6:  10:47

Mile 7: 10:47

Mile 8: 10:27

Mile 9: 10:25

Mile 10: 10:25

Mile 11: 10:35

Total: 1:55:27 

Two months ago I ran 10 miles in the same amount of time it took me to run my 11 miles today.  It is amazing to me and my husband how far I have come in the last two months.  I just hope that I am able to keep this up and run my first marathon in May, if that is what I decide to do :).