12-miler

Here's a picture of our Nike Women's Marathon team this morning before our 12-miler. I'm in the back on the right side of the photo.

This morning I was to do 12 miles at marathon pace. I decided I'd try for heart rate about 140-143 and see how fast it was and how I'd feel. I figured that would be about 10:30/mile.

It ended up being a bit faster than that! I covered the 12 miles in 2:04:18, for an average of 10:22/mile. HR was about 140 for most of that time. I felt very good for all of it, except at the VERY end (last 0.1 mile) when I did get one pretty bad intestinal cramp, which resolved very quickly. 1.5 hrs later, I've had no more trouble.

I do think my pace was a bit too fast. It was fine for 12 miles, and for a half marathon, I could have gone even faster, I think, and still made it to the finish line in one piece. However, I doubt I could do the marathon that fast. I think I was on the edge of some serious GI problems, as evidenced by the cramp at the end.

But this was a good experiment. I think I have a better idea after today of how fast I can push things before I have problems. That's what the training is all about!