12 miler...my wheels fell off....or did they?

Last weekend was my longest long run for the Disney 1/2 marathon.  Mary and Lisa had a zillion miles again so I tagged along so I could get my 12 miles in.  We did 2 miles before circling back by the cars to shed clothes.  We were melting.  It had been unseasonably warm (until yesterday when it snowed all day) around here and last Sunday was steamy.  I probably could have shed another layer but luckily I kept it as I was running into the wind on my way back.

I stayed with them for another mile and then dropped off to do my thing.  We met up again further down the trail when we made a pit stop.  We ran a little further together when I dropped off again.  I cruised along pretty well until the last couple of miles and it really started to feel like my wheels were falling off.  I was surprised to see that my pace didn't suffer because I was feeling pretty miserable and just wanted to be done. 

Again, I was pretty shocked at my average pace.  I was back in the 13:00 pace despite my walk breaks.  For me to never drop below 14:39 even when walking is a pretty big accomplishment for me.

Part of me wonders if I simply put too much pressure on myself last year when I was trying to PR.  Maybe I could have gone faster.  Or maybe I was training too much and zapped my energy.  I'm really not cut out to run more than 2 days in a row.  I can walk more days in a row but that much running leaves me with achey knees and it's just not worth it.

I went into this training season with no goals.  I knew I wanted to just go to Disney to have fun and support my friends during their Goofy Challenge.  I was also knew that realistically, I wasn't ready to devote the time to serious training.  I had planned to do the bare minimum to get me through the race.  That's just where I was in terms of my time commitment and my emotional commitment.  So I've been working out only about 2 days a week.  I'm not exactly proud of that but that's the truth.  As a coach, I certainly wouldn't recommend only training 2 days a week for a 1/2 marathon but right now, it seems to be working for me. 

I am officially tapering now with 10 miles scheduled for this weekend and I think 9 next weekend.  After that, I'll have to come up with another game plan.  :)