16 km Done

Well, I managed a 16km long run last weekend - but I have to say it was HARD, really HARD. I hit the wall at about 14 kms, but its just lucky I'm such a stubborn person because I wouldn't give in to my sore feet and dead on my feet legs. Lots of mental persuasion later I clocked up the 16kms after 1hr 41mins. Pretty well dead on for the time I'm aiming for, but given how much my legs instantly siezed making it very hard to walk - I've been left wondering how I will manage the 21 kms on May 6th. Well sort of. Nothing will stop me from achieving it, but its more about how much pain am I going to have to endure to get there!

So I've had some thoughts/done some reading/planned some more. Firstly, my run wasn't helped by dancing for three hours the night before in ridiculously high heeled shoes - woke up with sore legs to start with - Lesson One - rest before a long run.

Secondly - the seizing up of my legs is probably related to a build up of lactic acid which can be prevented by slowing down my run, or taking walk breaks as my body learns to burn fat more effectively (or something like that can't recall all the exact details), and dehydration, as I didn't drink at all during the 100 mins.

Thirdly - haven't eaten in the morning - or during the run - which is now quite long - blood sugar levels probably quite depleted.

So here's my plan. I've read in many places that beginners should walk through the drink stations, and Jeff Galloway swears that if you put in walk breaks you will reduce lactic acid build up. So in my 17 kms training run next weekend, I'm going to walk for 1 minute after every 5 kms (there are drink stations every 5kms in the race), and drink some water, and some energy gel. I'm hoping that this will keep me hydrated, give me energy boosts and prevent the build up of lactic acid which is tiring out my legs! And then I will just see if this makes a difference! After all, thats what training runs are for, right? To try out different strategies and see what works? I don't really want to walk in the race, but I'm keen to see how much difference this makes, and apparently it costs you very little in time, plus if it keeps you more energised, it can prevent you from losing speed towards teh end, so may actually assist with my overall time. AND I'm only talking about walking for 3 mins in total. Well - we'll see. It may just help me adjust to the long distances and I wont need it on the day???? We'll see.

Anyway - with my running plans sorted out - thought I'd post a few piccies from the 70's night that I went to last Saturday. The great thing was that I really enjoyed dressing up and having my photo taken - a far cry from the past life of dreading having to find dress ups and go anywhere near a camera.

And yes, the guy in the photo with the long hair is my hubby - my parents didn't even recognise him in the photos!

And I had to take a photo of my shoes. The day of the party - I walked into my local op shop (l live in a tiny country town) and to my absolute amazement they had these incredible platform shoes ($2) and seventies flared jeans - with splits down the front - AND it all fitted perfectly - AMAZING!!!!!

So here it all is....