Kenyan Way "Long" Run - 12 Miles

Ah the first 'long' run of the official taper.  All week long the weather here had said it was going to be 66 deg this morning but it was not...So sad.

What it actually was at 5am was:  73/65/73  (temp/humidity/feels like).

Still an improvement, but not what I was anticipating.  I was supposed to meet a couple of girls at 5am, but 1 cancelled the evening before and the other decided at 5am to skip her run altogether.  Not a big deal because lets face it; at 5am there are already a lot of other runners there doing early miles and I was shocked I tell you to see CW there when I got out of the car as this was the first KW run she actually showed up to!  So we took off together and ran a decent paced 4 miles before I set off about 5 minutes ahead of the groups start. 

My intent when I thought it was going to be 66deg was to do a more advanced progressive run, but I altered the paces I wanted once I knew the actual conditions.  I split the 12 miles up into 3 increments and took each 4 progressively faster.  Once I hit the last water stop and knew I only had 2 miles to go, I put the hammer down just a bit more.

Overall I was VERY pleased with this run.  The 'cooler' conditions did help tremendously.  Some people may think I should not have done what I did today since I am in taper, but its still 2 weeks away and waking up this morning my legs are no worse for wear.  I actually was going to run this morning, just a short 3 miles before heading off to work at the Locker, but I will indeed just rest the legs since I will be standing on them for 5 hours later anyway.

I don't necessarily believe that its that imperative 2 weeks out that I do ALL my runs at training pace.  Once I get through this coming Wednesday then and only then will I dial back substantially, giving the legs a full 10 days of light running only.

I am more concerned with my nutrition right now, maintaining, even losing some weight before I land in Chicago.  Things there seem to be going well too.  Yes I am starving all the time but I am handling it well, even yesterday when all I wanted was yummy oily pesto pasta from Paulies, I just ordered the salad with grilled chicken on top.  Didnt even have a cookie.  :O)  I did however have a bite sized Reeses pumpkin though!  I have been having all my meals strictly cooked by me, so not only am I able to monitor my intake and ingredients, but it saves a ton of money.  Additionally I stayed away from the Gatorade on the route yesterday, only having one cup of it for the 12 miles.  Just too many unnecessary calories and the water was sufficient based on mileage and that I had a Gu with me midway through the run.

Speaking of nutrition, I picked up my gels and my endurolytes yesterday for Chicago (I am digging the Gu Roctane) and have stashed them in my carry on bag already.

Now if it would just be closer to boarding the plane, I would have some idea on how to pack clothes for race day. 

I have a couple of options already in mind, but until next Sunday I wont feel comfortable enough with the forecast for Chicago to actually pack anything.  Last year it was great up until the day we actually arrived in Chicago, 3 days ahead of time, that the forecast was actually what we knew we would have.  And then it was warm (actually hot during the days).  Thankfully all I had to do was lose the shirt and ran in what I was used to running in all Summer.  NOT what I was planning on and I was NOT happy about it either!

OK time to do some grocery shopping for the week! 

Have a great Sunday! 

2 weeks from today I will, at this time be in my corral ready ready ready to run!!!!