Previous marathon training long runs:
- 8.0 is better together
- 10.0 for the win
- 11.0 miles: Attempt #2
- Half Marathon Thursday
- 10.0 Glorious Miles
Afternoon!
This morning, I woke up rather early for this week’s LONG RUN. If you’re wondering why I’m already running 15.0 miles three months before the marathon, it’s because I’ve become convinced that my body needs more long, moderate paced runs to properly prepare for 26.2 miles. So, I’ve added a few weeks into training and mixed in some more stepback weeks so I can do more mid-teen runs.
Breakfast:
For some reason, this did NOT sit well in my stomach at all. Maybe because I woofed it down 30 minutes before leaving? Whatever the reason, my go-to breakfast completely failed me this morning. I felt like I had rocks in my gut for the first three miles!
I ran about a mile and met up with my friend Emma, who was tackling 12.0 miles today. I was quite happy to have a running buddy.
All in all, the run was rather uneventful (until the end). My stomach evened out, we maintained a steady pace, and I refueled halfway through by stopping at a gas station to buy some Gatorade.
I dropped Emma off when I got to Mile 13.0 and then I continued on my merry way.
That’s when I ran into:
General the Angry Dog! Well, he wasn’t so angry at first. I spotted him in a residential neighborhood. An older lab (I kept calling him Marley & Me), General was dragged around his leash. I was SO concerned that the owner had fainted on the sidewalk, and General had left him. It’s one of my personal goals to never walk away from a situation that I can help in, so I grabbed General’s leash (he growled) and made him run back to my house… Plus, if someone found Maggie or James, I would want them to try to find me!
For an old dog, General was a good runner! Totally reaffirmed my commitment to having a big dog that I can run with one day.
Anyway, we got back to the house around Mile 14.2, and I very carefully grabbed his collar so I could read his rabies tag and call the vet for the owner’s phone number. General had a bit of a freak-out (turns out he’s blind!) and tried to bite me, but he only really snagged my shirt.
While I waited for the owner to show up, my legs started to lock up, and I became VERY hungry! Once General left with his dad, I decided to do a quick jaunt around my block to round up to 15.0 miles. What can I say – I’m anal about numbers. 
- Distance: 15.0 miles
- Duration: 2:35
- Average Pace: 10:23
Inhaled a tofu, two-cheese, spinach, and corn salsa stir-fry on flatbread:
Got a ton of work done (wahoo!) and then I joined the Husband for Introduction to Yoga at our studio. This was a great class for him to attend. Very step-by-step. And truthfully, after 15.0 miles, it was all I could handle, too! My muscles feel a lot better after getting stretched out.
Pre-yoga snack was Greek yogurt, raw oatmeal, pecans, and blueberries.
Bet you know what I’m about to do… EAT more food!
Twitter
Operation Beautiful
I’m sure General’s dad really appreciated your help today Caitlin! I agree with you about rounding out the numbers, until my Garmin hits my day’s mileage goal I’m going to keep going!
Beautiful picture of the flower Caitlin! Happy Friday!
Well done on the run, and surviving the blind dog! That must be terrifying for an animal to be blind
Is Gatorade all you had during your run, or did you eat as well?
I’m kind of moving away from solid calories during runs. I think Gatorade is working just fine for me (I had about 250 calories).
Does just drinking calories hold you over? I want to try and stay away from foods too, but I find my stomach starts to growl about 90 min. into a run.
So far… it does. Prob won’t once I pass into the late teens. I have been a HUGE fan of Goo in the past but lately I think I’m just too lazy to go buy it (and hey, Gatorade is everywhere).
If you’re tummy is growling, make sure you eat something!
Oh I do! I found that I like to have a Clif C bar during the run, about the same price/calories as a Gu. I’ve found that Gu just messes with me.
Oh, and I alwasys round numbers too :p I don’t understand how people can do 6.75miles or whatever lol!
Great workout! And you’re such a great pet finder
I’d go nuts if my dog wandered off
Wow very nice of you to not just leave the dog and go on your way! I’m totally a numbers person too – I would do the same thing to even out the mileage!
Awww, that was really good of you to help out with the dog! I would want someone to do the same for me if my dog were to ever get loose.
Aww General is too cute. He’s blind? Poor boy! Whenever I find a stray dog I always try to find their owner too.. because I would just die if that happened to me.
How great to have stopped your run from going straight through in order to care for that dog and find its owner.
And you still finished all 15 miles. I can be anal about numbers too so I probably would have done the same as you. Now time to stretch! 
Ah! What a scary moment when he tried to bite you! That’s so nice of you to take care of him until his “dad” came
I would want someone to do that for Trixie. I bet they really appreciated it too! Congrats on your 15 miles today, we have the perfect weather for it, no? Ok, now…go EAT! 
Thank goodness you were willing to help that dog. He could have been hit by a car. Congrats on the 15 miles!
Ooooh! Poor General! I bet he was really scared.
I came across someone’s german shepherd that had gotten loose on a walk with my dog. I was sorta terrified. Props to you!
Great run!
I would love to have a big dog one day to run with — and just to have around the house
Enjoy your food, you earned it!
I don’t know how you do it. I would totally be starving. After my morning workouts and then a walk…I am a beast with food! That was really great of you to help out the pup. Enjoy the afternoon Caitlin!
Oh poor puppy! So glad you were able to help. He was probably so scared!
btw, thanks for your help with my 5k questions. I’m back on track and will do my first run 2 weeks from Saturday! You are so inspiring!!!
Poor General being blind, he’s a pretty dog! So nice of you to take care of him until his Dad could get him.
Wow that is quite an eventful run. Good for you for helping out, that is awesome. I would want someone to do the same thing if Oscar got away!
poor old boy! i’m glad you found him! way to hit those 15 miles hard girl…your training seems to be going so well!
SO nice of you to help out with General. and kudos for finishing those 15 miles. wow!
(he’ll be 2 in april)
I can’t wait until I can start borrowing my parents golden retriever to run! His vet and breeder said it’s not goot to run with him until he’s 2 so that his bones and joints have time to fully develop. So next spring it is!
Yay!! Good deed for the day… extra karma coming your way! I’m the same way– I always have to stop and help, especially when it comes to animals and old people. (Do you know how many old people I’ve helped find their cars in parking lots… happens ALL THE TIME in South Florida… lol!). Anyway, good for you!
aww that was super sweet of you to help out! generally when I see a dog without an owner they tend to run faster than me and I can’t help! well that happened twice. hah.
Very eventful run I’d say! I’m glad you rescued General, even mean dogs deserve love
Poor General! Blind?
I’m so glad you saved him! I would’ve done the same! I’ve ended up with lost dogs in my car a number of times…finding home is important!
What a good Samaritan you are
I’d want someone to take care of Koda if she was ever lost, too!
Oh my goodness, crazy story about the dog. I am glad you found his owner and that he didn’t get you when he tried to bite!
Caitlin, You’re so likeable. You add to this universe with things like rescuing dogs and volunteering with young runners. Thank you.
just trying to make up for all the bad karma i’ve accrued in my life, i guess!
thanks.
Well then your next life should be absolutely stellar as this life (supposedly) determines the next…so I’m in trouble!;)
ahh! i have a blind and deaf dog and would be absolutely freaking out if he ever got out. that is so nice that you took the time to find his person! and my dog might have snapped at you too since he gets scared easily, but his aim, well, it isn’t so good. ha.
How nice of you to stop and take care of General! I’m sure his owner appreciated it
That is so nice of you to get a hold of his owner! I’d be too freaked out of getting bitten or hurt.
Oh – I’ve been following along for a couple weeks now & I always wondered if you ate the oatmeal raw when I would see your pictures; but didn’t want to pester you with such a petty question – THRILLED to see you answered my questions in this post. SCORE!
You are so sweet to help General out!! Bet his daddy was glad too!
You can alway ask questions
AND YES. Raw oatmeal mixed with yogurt is the bomb. Try it.
Good for you Caitlin, that was so nice of you to help out General. I’m sure General and his dad really appreciated your kindness.
Aww good for you stopping to help the poor dog! I would have done the same thing, I’m sure they appreciated it!
Kudos to you for helping with General. I’m not much of a dog person (even though we have our Biscuit) so I would probably go and get my husband, LOL! Biscuit ran away once and she is 50 pounds of muscle…2 girls found her and put her on a leash and were going door to door with her! She was practically dragging them down the street
Thank you so much for doing what you did with General. As a dog owner (I prefer to be known as Bowser’s mama), this is my worst fear. I always try to help if I see a dog or cat on their own, but I see a lot of people just look the other way. While I’m very careful and always keep him on a leash, it is one of my worst fears that he may escape me one day and that no one will help.
I have started following your blog recently, and you are truly inspiring in your way of caring for others and showing that you have to love and treat yourself right also. Such a great soul! Thank you!
<3
I love your good deed for the day. Be careful though! What if the dog had rabies and bit you? I think a lot of women (myself included) want to always help someone or an animal in need, but it can risk our safety sometimes doing so. Angela at Oh She Glows wrote a great post on it awhile ago.
http://ohsheglows.com/2010/05/15/always-trust-your-gut/
Wow, eventful run! Good for you for stopping to help the dog, even after it growled at you. I love running with my dog!
so what did his dad say? was general lost? one time i “rescued” two dogs who seemed to be wandering around wildly. turned out they were right in front of their house. oops!!
HAHAH yes he said general bolted when he was getting ready to take him on a walk!
really? well thank god for you then. you’re the dog whisperer of charlotte.
Crazy about the dog! I’m glad you rescued him though, I too would want someone to grab my dog if they saw her out wandering. I dream of having a dog I can run with, but since our dog got hit by a car when she was six months, which resulted in what was essentially a hip-replacement she can’t run. Oh well, I wouldn’t trade her for the world.
Awesome job on the 15! You’re rocking marathon training. Gives me inspiration for when I get going with mine in December.
I love that you helped the dog! One thing though (I’m a volunteer at an animal shelter)- it’s not a great idea to run long distances (more than a mile or so) with dogs unless you’re sure they’re used to it. It can give them a heart attack.
What a delicious looking flatbread!!
OOh you are brave! I am not a huge dog person, especially since my mom was bit by a dog in PetSmart and she didn’t provoke the dog at all. Way to do a good dead today though!!
You are totally killing marathon training! You are going to do awesome!
Awesome that you found General’s owner.
So, did I dream this, or did you announce somewhere that you are running a second marathon a couple weeks after this coming one? I seem to remember that you said something like you hadn’t brought it up on the blog for discussion, but you were doing two back to back, and the only training tweaks you had to make were adding a couple more 20-milers and 19-milers.
I have this really weird feeling about whether you posted this or not, and I think it totally could’ve just been a dream … Yes, I am a creepo, because maybe I dream about HTP, lol.
I am thinking about it! I wrote it in the comments section
What do you think? Am I nuts?
No, I think you’re BADASS. I wanted to do that after my first, but was sidelined by a sucky injury (that smarter training prob could’ve prevented) that I’m still working on getting over. But you seem like you’re taking care of yourself, so if you think you can, go for it. It’d be EPIC.
maybe I saw that on twitter … I have no idea!
I guess it comes with being a dog owner, but I am scared of strange dogs, especially ones that growl at me.
Great good deed though *thumbs up*
15 miles is *intense*! Good for you, and so glad that you returned that cutie to his owner. I would definitely hope that someone would do the same for me someday too.
Fuel up!!
Aww I’m sure General appreciated it even if he didn’t show it by biting at you. It’s so disorienting to not know where you are as a human and can ask questions…I can’t imagine for an animal.
<3 aww. I love that you stopped mid-run to help a furball!
Kudos for taking care of General. I’d really like to think if Charlie ever got lost like that someone would take care of him. Saying that, he is crazy and once he gets off the lead he tends not to stop so they may have problems catching him!!! I do love labs. Remind me of my grand pa who bred them for retrieving. Good run too! I’m headed for 12 in the morning. Dreading it!!!
Good for you for finding the pup’s owner! That’s what I’d want too if my pup wandered off
Lucky General! What a sweet story =] (Except for the biting)
awww this story warms my heart.
So glad that you were the one to find General — he’s a lucky dog to have had you on his side!
Great pics, such a gorgeous flower too. Alright… how do you do it!? How do you convince your husband to go to an Intro Yoga class?! We have it down the street and he just is not into it,lol any ideas? He is convinced it is more chanting, etc! I told him, Real men do yoga!
my advice is to try a few classes and find one with a lot of men in it OR one led by a man. that will help him!!
hot yoga is good for making men feel like it’s a workout.
i didnt have to do much convincing with the hus though – he’s a hippie vegan. LOL
Great advice! I guess since your guy is more of a hippy vegan it was not such a huge challenge! My guy is an extreme sports athlete so I have some work to do.
And let’s think about it, how cute are all the girls in yoga with their yoga pants, you would think ALL MEN would be in a class,jk! I got him to take Tango lessons though, so I am moving forward,LOL!
“It’s one of my personal goals to never walk away from a situation that I can help in”
If only more people thought like this and weren’t afraid to help out.
Congrats on the run and helping the doggie
Your running posts always make me crave running!
Great job on the run!! Have you ever heard of white chia seeds? I asked for chia seeds at Whole Foods and they gave me a bag. Since my 2 year old was out of control I didn’t have time to look them over and when I got to my car, realized that the ones I’ve seen on your blog are black??? Love your blog!
I think the white ones are even better for you!
Impressive Caitlin. Impressive. I can’t say that I miss it though unlike others who think it’s their identity! Do you drink much before you run – maybe the “rocks in your stomach”?!
That’s great being so brave and saving the dog! That’s exactly what I would hope to happen to our dog if he ever ran away.
You may have been bitten, but now you have good dog karma.
Wow. I’m always so impressed by your long runs, and your endurance. Good to know you use Gatorade. I’m still trying to work out the best way to keep my energy and calorie levels up on my runs.
I think it’s awesome that you helped out General! And I think it’s funny that you made him run with you
I agree with Nicole above – good dog karma for you!
You are such a sweetheart! I bet General’s daddy was so thankful! (At least he better have been! Lol) BTW, was just reading my newest edition of Fitness and saw Operation Beautiful was written about! Is it weird that I thought “Hey! I know her!” when in reality we’ve never met?? Haha!
<3 you know me!
Great run! I’m just wondering – how long do you wait after eating to exercise? And you’re awesome with animals. It’s so cool that you did that with General.
i shouldve waited longer!
You are a good person. Sadly I am kinda terrified of dogs. I was not raised around animals, so I am not sure I could have done the same.
Haha neighborhood dogs are funny. My next door neighbor has several chihuahuas which are harmless but annoyingly barky.
Way to go with 15 miles!
Only you would find a blind dog on your 15 mile run
I love it!
It was so nice of you to help General out! And good for you to know to call the vet… you would be surprised how many people don’t know they can do that.
When I worked at the animal shelter we would get calls about found dogs that they “can’t find the owners” when they have a rabies tag and sometimes even an actual tag with the owners phone number on it and they just can’t be bothered to do the rest, they did their good deed. It’s sad really.
Good thing you didn’t get bit! I can only imagine how scared he must have been!
Wow, that’s awesome that you stopped to help that dog! Don’t know if I would have done the same thing, esp. if he seemed angry. Nice job on your run
So nice of you to help ol General out:) A similar happened to me when I ran into a dog – it jumped right on top of me. I didn’t have my phone with me, so I just walked up to the house I was in front of and used their phone to call the owners. Unfortunately they didn’t pick up
Hope he turned out OK!
Okay…this is WAY too weird. I saved a little puppy wandering outside yesterday! It was an 8wk old lab that squeezed out from a hole in the fence. I wish I could have saved it from it’s owner [a young college girl] though. Helllooooo an 8wk old puppy needs to be in a cage, not a huge yard..especially when it has escaped more than once and you HAVE a cage. It had my blood boiling afterwards!! Poor little puper!!
Aw, poor pup. Glad you saved him from the streets… if not from his owner. Grr, I agree!
Okay…this is WAY too weird. I saved a little puppy wandering outside yesterday! It was an 8wk old lab that squeezed out from a hole in the fence. I wish I could have saved it from it’s owner [a young college girl] though. Helllooooo an 8wk old puppy needs to be in a cage, not a huge yard..especially when it has escaped more than once and you HAVE a cage. It had my blood boiling afterwards!! Poor little pupper!!
Okay…this is WAY too weird. I saved a little puppy wandering outside yesterday! It was an 8wk old lab that squeezed out from a hole in the fence. I wish I could have saved it from it’s owner [a young college girl] though. Helllooooo an 8wk old puppy needs to be in a cage, not a huge yard..especially when it has escaped more than once and you HAVE a cage. It had my blood boiling afterwards!! Poor little pupper!!
Umm, I have no idea how that published 3 times…really sorry!
4 weeks from my first marathon and I’m thinking like you. That next time I need more long runs leading up to it. However with my 40 B4 40 I’m not sure I’ll be able to
You need more than 30 minutes for your breakfast to digest. I use to wait an hour but lately 1.5 hours has been working better for me.