Previous marathon training long runs:
After crashing and burning when I attempted to run 11.0 miles in the heat yesterday (I got to 6.4), I decided to wake up extra early today and try again.
My alarm went off around 6:30 and I was out of the door by 7:15. Before I left, I had an almond butter sandwich with 1/2 serving of Banana Soft Serve. The combo of warm + cold was so delicious! Definitely try this.
I ran 0.75 miles to a parking lot and met up with Michelle. Having a friend to run with AND being in the shade made such a difference. I was a little sore from running 6.4 miles yesterday, so I tried to keep a moderate pace and not push myself up the hills.
Michelle and I said goodbye around mile 7.5 and I continued along my merry way. I took a packet of Hammer Gel (banana flavor – eck!) and the glucose seemed to hit my bloodstream instantly, making me nauseous. I need to remember to eat each packet slowly, not all at once!
Ran by the house around 8.0 and refilled my water bottle… I drank three full bottles today! It’s so hot out there, even early in the morning.
Like my tech tee? 
It’s from Girls on the Run’s Solemates program! I received my welcome package in the mail the other day, and the goodies are great (but within reason for a non-profit, which I really appreciate). The tech tee is SPF 30 and fits nicely.
Have you heard about the Solemates program? It’s a great way for busy people to get involved with the Girls on the Run charity, which teaches tween girls to run a 5K while building self-confidence and other social skills. If you’re too swamped to be a coach, you can be a Solemate. As a Solemate, you run ANY race and raise $262 in the process. The fundraising goes towards funding two girls’ participation in the awesome program. If you want to make your race about something bigger than your own efforts but don’t want to commit to raising a lot of money (some charities require thousands of $$!), Solemates is perfect! If you sign up, tell them Healthy Tipping Point/Operation Beautiful sent you!
I’m a Solemate for my upcoming marathon and I LOVE IT. So cool that my fundraising helps two young girls!
Back to my run…
I started to feel really good around Mile 9, but my attitude took a nosedive around 10.5. The last 0.5 mile seemed to go on FOREVER! But I finished it. That’s all that counts.
- Distance: 11.0 miles
- Duration: 1:51:09
- Mile 1: 9:56
- Mile 2: 9:39
- Mile 3: 9:52
- Mile 4: 9:48
- Mile 5: 10:11
- Mile 6: 9:56
- Mile 7: 11:46 <—walking breaks with Michelle
- Mile 8: 10:28
- Mile 9: 9:54
- Mile 10: 9:59
- Mile 11: 9:41
Came home and ate leftover Chinese food. Tofu, veggies, and rice is the ultimate post-long run recovery meal!
Chinese food at 10 AM… because that’s how I roll.
Have a great day!
Oh, and… Since the response to the Change the Way You See, Not the Way You Look Week was so overwhelming, I decided to extend it for an extra day. Here are the last bunch of submissions – thanks to everyone who participated!
- Samantha: Turning Points: Learning to Love What I’ve Got
- Laura: Finding MY Healthy Balance
- Jennifer: How healthy eating and running boosted my confidence!
- Erin: True Friends Show Me My True Self
- Melissa: How comparing myself to others made me forget that I’m already beautiful!
- Katie: Embracing My Own Awesomeness
- Candice: Finding Beauty in my Imperfections
- Freya: Body Hate and How To Overcome It
- Sarah: Making Small Steps Towards Celebrating Yourself, As You Are
- Lea: Live Strong, Stay Strong
- Jan: The deep desire to take care of my health changed my mirror’s reflection
- Sarah: Being Strong in Both Body and Mind
- Dez: A Chubby Girls Nightmare: "But you have such a pretty face!”
- Lisa: Follow Your Dreams For Good Health
- Megan: How Learning to Take a Compliment Changed My Outlook
- Jackie: You Are What Makes You Beautiful
- Angie: Weighs in on Negative Self Talk
- Kimberly: Pregnancy Taught Me To Honor My Body
- Alexa: You Are Beautiful!
- Wendy: Raising Two Girls
- Marilou: How I won my fight against the mirror
- Jen: Running Makes Me Feel Free
- Kimberly: Pregnancy Taught Me To Honor My Body
- Errign: Finding Contentment in Myself
- Andrea: How losing control meant gaining balance
- Kristin: Letting go of the girl that use to be, embracing the beauty of who I am today!
- Samantha: Learning that beauty and value are intrinsic, not numerical
- Kaitlin: How Changing Mindsets Changed Everything
- Maggie: I am Strong and Fragile and Unique
- Kiersten: Learning to Love My Body- One Part at a Time
- Lindsey: Embrace Yourself Today
- Monica: Going From a Food Diet to a Positive Thinking Binge
- Robyn: How Running Made Me See My Body In a Whole New Light
- Catie: A Challenge That Everyone Is Capable Of Doing
- Kristina: Running Gave Me Confidence
- Jaclyn: How Coaching Has Allowed Me to Help Young Girls… and Myself
- Laura: Changing Perspectives: Skinny to Healthy
- Katie: My Physical Weight Loss Meant Nothing Until a Psychological Weight Was Lifted
- Sana: How Seeing my Real Face Made Me Feel Beautiful
- Heather: I Learned to Love Myself After 14 Years of Disordered Eating
- Heather: How changing the way I saw helped me embrace true health
- Andrea: Making peace with being myself
- Amber: I’m not perfect, but I’m worth it!
- Caitlin: How Running Gave Me Confidence
- Michelle: Size is Temporary, Feeling Good is Forever
- Melissa: How I’m learning to just be me and not a number on a scale
- Michelle: Stop the Fat Talk and Love Yourself
- Ali: A new mom’s perspective on sharing the message
- Clare: Remembering a Love of Food and Goodbye to Anorexia
- Rebecca: Operation Beautiful–> Operation Rebecca?!
- Janna: Positive Affirmations Can Set You Free
Twitter
Operation Beautiful
what a good combo …adding soft serve banana.. cute t shirts
Wahooo! Way to knock that 11miler out of the park!
Yaay well done!!! It’s always such an awesome relief to finish a long run
I did just 9 today, but it went really well too 
Btw – I was reading the OB book last night and had to put it down – I was about to cry, reading all the lovely notes and your story!! SUCH a gorgeous book.
Thank you!
Yay! Nice run!
I’m about to head out on my 11-miler when my food settles, thanks for the inspiration!
Great job!! You always amaze me with your speed on long runs.. amazing!! I’m going to look into solemates.. it seems like a GREAT program!
i used to run for long distances too and once trained for a marathon until my knees gave out. i love reading about other people’s journeys still and it is a great inspiration!
Woo hoo! I can’t wait to get up to 11 miles. And I have GOT to try that banana soft serve!
bahhh how do you do it!! been following you for a while, and i know that the last few months you’ve been keeping your mileage low, and suddenly you are jumping up to 11 miles and maintaining a sub 10;00 pace. Was it hard? would you said your heartrate was pretty high? Grrr i’m frustrated with my running. I can get my speed workouts to be in the 8:30s but when it comes to long runs (maybe i need to fuel/drink), i’m always at around a 10:30 pace!! So, how do you jump from 6-8 mile runs to 11 mile runs and maintain your pace? advice?
Thanks!!
PS congrats on Operation Beautiful, glad to see your hard work is paying off!
1) Remember that I’ve been doing long distance running for 2.5 years now. Even if I kept my mileage low in the last few months, I had a base to work off of. Also, my mileage was low but my cardio activity was high (the 100 mile bike ride and the Olympic tri). So that definitely makes a huge difference.
2) YES you need to be drinking water during your runs and maybe experimenting with eating, too. even being slightly dehydrated seriously impacts your performance.
3) keep at it – it doesn’t come overnight and there will suddenly be a week where it clicks and 11 miles is easy(er) than before! trust me.
4) make sure you are getting adequate rest and sleep <– these are MAJOR factors for me in terms of performance.
Oh and I want to add that going slower during long runs can be advantageous. I read an article on RW that the longer you are on your feet, the better, especially for half and full marathon training. They often recommend your long runs are a minute slower than your shorter distance running. Just something to think about! Slow doesn’t equal bad.
I’ve been reading Born to Run – very interesting read!- and the book points out that most people run their long runs too fast and their short runs too slow. I have found that as my distance increases, I definitely need to slow down on the long runs. In turn, I have more energy for the mid-week runs. Good luck!
OK this is super useful. I’ve been running since Oct 2008, but really hadn’t pushed past the 10:00 mile for a long time. I really didn’t train very hard for a marathon, and it killed me. KILLED me. Since January, I’ve really worked on my speed, and can now comfortably run at a 9:00 pace on my “easy runs” and then for tempos I pump it up to 8-8:30. I’m hoping to run a half marathon at 9:00 min/mile, but during my long runs, I’m still managing about a 10:30 pace. You mentioned that my longer runs should be a minute slower than race pace… so that would imply that I should try to do something around the 10:00 mile pace for my longer runs? Sorry for the abundance of questions, this is very helpful!!
According to that article I read, yup – you should aim for 10 minute miles or 10:30 on long runs. Now, doesn’t that take the pressure off??
Great job on that run! The last half mile can definitely be brutal, especially with a Garmin ticking away every 1/100 of a mile. Kudos on finishing!
Congrats on the run! My 2.5 miles pale in comparison, but I got my butt outside and moving, right?
Makes me want to push my distance a little more!
Thanks for posting my link and congrats on te run!
Enjoy your Sunday!
Rebecca
hey, i didnt realise you were in glamour this month! congrats!
I’m sure the salt and carbs tasted extra good after that looong run! I drink a TON of water when I run too, something about it makes me thirsty all day long.
I need to look into the solemates program. I’m so glad you told us about it!
Nothing better than Chinese food after a long run…yum! I kind of envy the heat you have over in the east. I live in northern CA and we’ve had such a cool summer. This morning is socked in with fog (I live 20 minutes from the coast) and it’s only supposed to reach 69 degrees today. Not that I’d want it as hot and humid as where you’re at but a nice 80 degrees would be nice. Have a great day:)
Wow look at all those OB posts! I love them. Thank you again for your work on that project. We need it!
I will have to look into Soulmates – what a great organization!
Wow, it must be really hot there!
That breakfast sounds amazing!!! Good job on finishing that run. Gosh, I can’t even imagine running 11 miles straight!
Nice job on the run! Having company is awesome
I’ve had some bad experiences with gels…I’ve actually started to avoid them and drink Gatorade or eat Clif z bars instead. I took a gel at mile 18 of the Boston marathon and ended up dry heaving awhile later (ugh).
Yuck!!! I think I just prefer certain brands…. I dunno. Maybe it was the heat, too?
This is something I learned from endurance cycling – artificial nutrients can be very different in their effects from person to person. I like thick Perpetuum – it makes a friend of mine gasssy and bad smelling (yes, James). Try different things and find what works for you.
Way to get out there again and conquer 11 today!! I did 12 yesterday and it really helps having someone else alongside!!
Great job on the 11 miles! Salty Chinese food sounds PERFECT to me for after a long run.
Solemates sounds like a great organization – I’m going to look into it more…
good job getting up early to run! the tech tee you got is cute!
Woohoo congrats on the run! Sometimes you’ve just gotta listen to your bod! I’m not too keen on the banana hammer gels either, but I do like the other fruity flavours. Have a great day!
I’m going to make banana soft-serve tonight! I’m a little bit worried because I only have a blender. It may turn into banana granita.
Congrats on making 11!
your breakfast looks fab!
Congrats on the 11 miles!!! I ran 6 this morning to train for my half marathon. I’ve never run more than this…did you ever hit a mile marker when training for your first half that was particularly hard?
What has been your favorite charity to fundraise for?
Good job!!!
I think I remember the jump between 6 – 7 miles and 8 – 9 miles as being really rough because that’s when it started to be a LOT longer than a hour. If you’re really feeling winded, start to do run/walk intervals. It will help a lot and help you get over your hump!
Thats amazing getting an 11-miler out there! Hhaha great recovery meal too
Sweaty girl! Way to knock out your run
Way to go on the run! That’s a long way, heat or no heat.
A buddy definitely helps! We waited too long to go on our walk today, so we are missing it. The air quality in Atlanta is just not good. I hope the rest of your day goes well!
Hurray to 11 miles!! Way to tackle that beast!
Looks like a tasty combination! WTG on the 11 miles!
Thanks for linking to my post. You had a TON of submissions! I’m trying to read as many as I can because the stories are great.
way to go with the run! you are inspirational!! so funny that I’m wearing my girls on the run t-shirt as I read your post. lol!
I greatly admire your fitness discipline. Every time I read about one of your long runs it inspires me to become more dedicated to and consistent with my running.
Oh, and I totally understand the need for leftover Chinese food in the AM hours.
congrats on getting back out there today and getting in a great run! Heat can be such a deterent, but you figured out how to make it work! hope the rest of your day is great!
Thanks for inspiring me to get my run out of the way this morning too! Sometimes knowing that you’re not the only one having problems getting out of the door helps!
Well, I walk a short walk daily. But I don’t care how long it takes, I know my body will forgive me if I just keep my patience. I admire your strength and capability…but most of all I admire how energetic you are. I hope to have that one day again.
Have you ever considered having t-shirts with operationbeautiful.com on them? Plain black with white lettering? If it sounds good, and you do it and it spreads the fame and money…maybe you can send me a free shirt and book
I’ve done shirts before but not recently. Thanks for the reminder!
Awesome job on the long run. After a failed long run I like to get back out there as soon as possible to show myself that I can definitely do it.
Awesome job on the 11 miler!!
Great job on your run! My 11 miles went good, too! It was hilly!
I was thinking about the Soulmates program on my run this morning actually and I’m going to look into it
Whoops, I mean solemate! Haha, fun play on words
Congrats on getting through 11 miles. This heat is a killer! I am going to look into Solemates for my upcoming marathon. I really wish we had a local GOTR chapter that I could work with.
hi Caitlin, right now I am super busy, juggling 3 jobs. I have been cleaning houses 4x week and waitressing the other three. I am always on my feet! I have been doing Jillian Michaels Shredding Video for about a week or so. Do you think its ok to consider the cleaning and waitressing exercise? What do you think? I really dont have time/energy to do much working out otherwise!!
YES!! When I was a bartender, I worked my ASS off. I burned mega calories being on my feet all day. That is definitely a workout…. especially cleaning homes!
You are going to love GOTR!! I’ve never heard of their Solemates program but it sounds awesome. I was a GOTR head coach last spring and it was wonderful
BTW, this heat is terrible..ugh
Stellar run!!
Are you training for something in particular right now?
phew, quite the sweaty run! way to stick with it!
Wonderful job on the run, so glad it went better than the attempt yesterday!
Sounds like a good run. I’ve just found out today (using GPS) that I run at an average 10 minute mile pace and was wondering if this is considered really slow (bearing in mind my ‘long runs’ at the moment are only about 5 miles!!)? A lot of bloggers seem to run at lightning speed so I guess I was just curious as to how slow I really am!
I don’t think that’s slow LOL. I think 10 is definitely a moderate pace for ANYONE. 10 minute miles are definitely ran, not jogged or walked!
5 miles is a long run! GREAT JOB!!
Thanks guys – this makes me feel a lot better!
amazing run! Cold banana soft serve+warm almond butter sandwich sound incredible!
My oh my – awesome run!!! And in that heat! You rock!
Awesome run!
And that tee looks great on you.
Way to work that run! All it takes is not going at the worst time of day. haha. We’re under an excessive heat warning right now!
That issue (re: getting ill when eating too quickly/too much GU/Hammer Gel on a run) has come up recently for me too. The coach said for ever gulp of the fuel, I should be chasing it with water. That seemed to work on my last run.
oops — typo — “for EVERY gulp of fuel” — haha, sorry.
Way to go on completing your run! Chinese food sounds like the perfect recovery meal!
Glad you had a better run today. I loved Change the Way You See- I read some amazing stories and found new blogs!
You were my inspiration to join the SoleMates program. I am on my way to meeting my goal and can’t wait for my own goodie package to come shortly! Thanks for the heads up about this awesome organization!
Wahoo! Update me on your training after a few weeks -maybe do a guest post?
I’d love to do a guest post on my experience. I’ll update you in a couple weeks!
It is amazing how much the weather can impact a run!
Thanks for spreading the word about GOTR a while back–I contacted my local program about volunteering and hopefully it will work out with my work schedule!
Nice job on the 11 miles! I’m working my way back up from my first half in May. However…I still haven’t signed up for my second half, but I’m training for it LOL
So honored to be included in your Operation Beautiful roundup today!
You’re on MSN.com! Did you know?
Still?? Sweet!
Thank you for posting my Change the Way You See, Not the Way You Look Week post today, it was an honor to be listed. =)
Congrats! Great run, Caitlin. You should feel mighty proud of yourself
Wei-Wei
i think that solemate program sounds AWESOME! i am going to send my runner friends a link to this right now and suggest they all do it. what a great way to give back to the community!
I just got home from a week long camping trip and saw that your book arrived in my mail!!!!!!! Yahhhhhhhooooooooooo! I am going to delve into it tonight!