12 Miler

I did finish my 12 miler today, and it felt really good. The thought that this isn't even halfway did cross my mind. The IT band on the right knee annoyed be from miles 7-12, but it wasn't severe. Long runs rule. I hope I still feel this way when I hit 18, 20, and 22 miles.

7:47, 7:43, 7:36, 7:26, 7:44 (bleh traffic), 7:29, 7:47, 8:01, 7:56, 7:53, 7:58, 8:26.

Not too bad, but not too good, either. I need to work on reversing those splits to finish stronger. Miles 4-6 are usually my strongest (as they were today) and that's why I really like the 10k race.

I actually ran about 12.25 miles and it took 1:35:05 for an average pace of 7:46. I'm really disappointed in the splits on miles 10 and 11. I thought I was picking up the pace on those miles. I was hoping to hit those at 7:35-ish. I felt like I had energy. I felt like I was expending extra energy. It just didn't show up in my pace.

I felt like I hit a wall around mile 7, and my pace did slow down for the remaining miles. A funny thing is that "Struggle Within" by Metallica was playing (random shuffle on the iPod) when I was feeling the worst.

I promised Erin that I'd run a mile with her today. She has reminded me of that at least three times today and 5 times this week. :) So that's on this afternoon's schedule, along with miscellaneous chores and college football.