I did it! I ran my 8 miles today! =D I’m really proud of myself! I know, I must sound redundant, but seriously, I have never really thought myself capable of doing these things, so every week is like a new revelation for me =)

Today’s goal was to do 8 miles at a 13:33 min/mile pace. I wanted to do a better job of pacing myself than my other long runs. I think I did ok. I really envy those people who are able to hit their goal time more consistently with every mile. I know I could do better if I got myself a Garmin, but my budget won’t allow me to get it for now. Maybe in a month or two.

In any case, I’m trying to look at it more positively. I think running without the aid of a Garmin watch will help me learn how my goal pace feels. I think that’ll help me pace myself if, horror of horrors, my Garmin were to die on me during a race =)

So, here are my splits!

Mile 1: 13:11
Mile 2: 12:44
Mile 3: 13:13
Mile 4: 12:59
Mile 5: 12:22
Mile 6: 12:44
Mile 7: 13:28
Mile 8: 13:50

Average Pace: 13:03
Shoes: Asics Nimbus (sooooo loving these shoes!)
Approx. Calories Burned: 1000 - wowzas!
Number of ShotBloks Consumed: 3.5 (one every half hour)

Today’s route is the same route I ran last week for my 4 mile tempo. Two hills, one sorta minor one, and one more major one. I doubled over the route, so I went over these hills twice!

The first 4 miles went really well. I felt strong going through these early miles knowing that I had just run them at a much faster pace a few days ago. I took a bathroom and water break after my 4 miles and started up again. I felt pretty good going into miles 5 and 6. Mile 7 was pretty tough as I went over that big hill the second time around. Mile 8 was slower than I wanted it to be because the burn in my legs (from jogging up the hill) stayed with me throughout this last mile. I pushed myself as much as I could and am glad that I am just 17 seconds off from my goal time for that mile.

Aches and Pains: My left arch started to hurt a little bit going into my 5th mile. But this slowly went away after 10-15 minutes of running. My arch feels better now. No shin pain. No knee pain. No other foot pain. So YAY!!! =)