A Warm Walk

so, my race pace walk started somewhere between half marathon pace and marathon pace, and ended up a little slower than marathon pace. The last mile and a half were torture. It was kind of cool and overcast when I left the house, so I put on my underarmour camouflage cold gear tights, the long sports bra, a new silk base layer long sleeve top (it's very thin) and a short sleeve top with a running skirt for the top layer. I was trying out a new pair of Adidas adizero cs that I bought 1/2 size larger for the end of the 100 mile race, so I also had on two pair of socks.

Ok, I was overdressed. I drank plenty of electrolyte and water... The first 10.5 miles, the pace averaged 12:48mpm and the last 1.5 miles the pace averaged 14:10mpm, so the overall average pace with no stops for 12 miles was 13:03mpm. Another long walk done.

I can't remember if I told someone the other day that the shorter long walks are always harder for me... but this one was. Now I am hoping that next weekends back to back long walks go ok.

The one obvious thing I didn't mention was the HR, it averaged 74% during the first 10 miles, the max HR achieved was 80% somewhere in mile 4. HR during the last 2 miles averaged 68%. I always intend for the fall back week LSD to be done faster than the longer walks...

I will remember not to over dress again. I really could have taken off the tights at mile 6, when I passed my house, I just didn't want to stop. I somehow felt that more would be accomplished if I just finished the 12 miles. Of course I didn't feel that way at the end. The high school track is a little less than .5 miles from my house, and in order to make the whole 12 miles, I turned into the track and walked 3 laps rather than up and down one more street in my neighborhood. Had I not done that, I probably would not have completed the 12...

On a totally different note... the OKC Memorial Marathon is only 2 weeks away. I will be really glad to get out of town and see some friends for a couple of days. Then only 2 months until Mohican. I have been thinking, how am I going to get several really long walks in before I have to taper a little for the 100? Then I remembered, there is another 50k race at Huntsville State Park between now and June. It is the Hog's Hunt 50k/25k on May 16. I have a couple of days to think about it because the cutoff for early registration is May 2.

Anyone feel like a 50k training walk in Huntsville???