The Two-Part Long Run

A fellow (probably more legitimate, and slightly more serious) runner whom I follow on Twitter (you can hit Scott from iRunnerBlog up here) introduced me to the idea of the short long run. Long story short, you take the distance you're to run that day, divide that distance by two, and run twice in a 24 hour period. So yesterday, instead of running ten miles at once, I split it up into two five-milers and ran twice. I feel that a pro/con list is the best for this situation. I love pro/con lists, and I especially love t-charts, but they're complicated to do in this posting thingy, so list it is.

PROS:

• It made dreadmill running far more bearable.
• I will say, dreadmills have an advantage over outdoor running in that I can mimic the elevation of the course with the push of a button and run something as similar to the course as I can get without being there.
• And there are TV's on every dreadmill. The Real Housewives kept me company yesterday.
• And I can keep my water, gatorade, fruit strips, and an actual bathroom nearby at all times.
• This needs no further explanation.
• The little twinge thing behind my knee didn't bother me at all. 
• I like anything involved with running that doesn't cause me pain.
• Being able to refuel properly between runs really made the last half easier for my body to handle. I've been having problems with having enough energy to finish strong recently, but yesterday wasn't a problem. 
• I've also got my run-walk-run ratio down properly.
• Wahoo!
• I went to the gym twice yesterday. It made me feel like a BAMF.

CONS:

• The blisters that developed in my first run made the second unbearably painful. I made it through two miles of the second and then hopped on the elliptical, cranked the incline/height up to 20 and the resistance up to 10, and finished the last three looking like a freaking ninja. People were looking at me like I was crazy, but honestly, even then I wasn't out of breath or sweating very much. It made me feel really conditioned, and for the first time in a while I felt in shape. It felt nice.
• The maximum for both is 20.
• I wore bad socks, so the blisters were totally my fault. Still though. It SUCKED.
• I'm not one to complain about pain, but I'll complain about blisters.
• I tried molefoam and band-aid blister protection things, but they slipped off... Any suggestions?
• Yeah, that was the only con.

So basically, I'm gonna be using this two-part method for the one long run I have left before my half and for all of the long runs I can for my full. Less exciting is the fact that my long runs for my full will be divided up into two parts that are each as long as two of my shorter long runs. But I can, I will, I am able.... I think.

Wow, I haven't done this in a while...

Real life has gotten in the way of my blogging. Lo siento, you guys. 

IN THE PAST MONTH....

• Total weight lost: Almost 40 pounds. 40. Freaking. Pounds. That's the size of a small kindergartner. No big deal or anything.

• Total inches lost: 26.5 inches. And I only started measuring 17 pounds ago. I've lost over 25 inches in 17 pounds and I've lost almost 40 pounds total. Yeah. I'm not even gonna try to do that math.

• Current pant size: 12. I bought like five pairs of real shorts (AKA not Nike shorts... I now own 9 pairs of those. I live in them) over Spring Break, and two pairs now need belts to not fall down. I was at least a size 18 when I started, maybe bigger. (The head in the sand approach was used.) That means I'm down at least three pant sizes. Hell to the yes. 

• Current length of long runs: 12 miles. In a row. Lately my body's been dragging so I'm upping my carb intake. I love carbs. Sara Ann and I may or may not have eaten macaroni and cheese for dinner last night. It may or may not have been delicious. (HINT: We did and it was.) 

• Piece of bad news: Injuries. Sara Ann's been out for a few weeks with stress fractures in her shins and I've messed up something teensy behind my left knee. It usually isn't a big deal, but towards the end of my longer runs, it starts hurting. Monday, it started acting up really badly and the pain started moving up my thigh at about mile three... I think I just strained something, but I'm just gonna buck up/take Advil/permanently affix an ice pack to my knee until the half. Speaking of which...

• I run the Nashville Country Music Half Marathon in 17 days. 17. Freaking. Days. Ahhh!!! Towards the beginning of this shindig, I really didn't think a half was a big deal... I mean, come on! It's ONLY 13.1 miles... HA. The one thing I've learned recently is to respect the distance. I honestly didn't. I didn't think a half was that big of a deal, but now, with every run, and every twinge of pain, and every damn walking break I take, I wonder if I'm really ready for this. Which brings me to this...

• Despite the fact that I will be finishing and I would love to do so in under 2 1/2 hours... I just don't think I'm gonna do it that quickly. I've been running for four months, and my body's just not conditioned well enough to sustain running 13.1 miles. When I started, I asked a professor at Hendrix who has run more marathons than can possibly be normal whether this was feasible. His first words were, "well you're gonna be running a lot, but you're gonna be walking a lot too." I didn't really believe him until I got to about mile 6 of my first 10 miler. I'm learning to respect my body and its efforts a lot more... I'm doing something in four months that takes most people years. Yes, I'm crazy for going for a half so soon. Yes, it's gonna take a while. But you're out of your mind if you think I'm not gonna give it my everything. And while we're on this topic...

• I'm also postponing my first 26.2 for this same reason. I don't think that next January is enough time for 26.2. I would be starting training in July, and that's only two months between my half and the start of training to build up endurance I need to be able to last through 16, 18, 20, 22 mile training runs (my legs started aching just thinking about that).  Instead, I'm gonna run the Little Rock Marathon next March. Two more months may not sound like a lot, but it'll give me a little more time and a decent little break for my body and the stress i'm putting it under. Also, Hendrix was going to be paying for my trip to WDW... And I'm not coming back to Hendrix in the Fall. Not because of grades or anything... It's just not for me.

• I think that's it? PS: new pic of Sara Ann and I. I already want to be back on the beach.