I thought I would try something different on this long run–no music. I know some races prohibit headphones, and so out of curiosity I wanted to see what running was like without them.  I didn’t miss them all that much. I heard lots of cricket sounds, babies crying in their walkers, runners panting as they passed me, and a LOT of “ding ding” bell sounds from the cyclists passing on the left.  This must have been a big day for the Team in Training runners, and they must have got up very early to start running, since they all looked pretty beat on their final mile.  I overheard they were running a 16-miler.

Starting at the 3.5-mile marker on the Capital Crescent Trail, the first 4 miles are mostly on a decline.  I ran the first 3 without any problem, never taking breaks.  As soon as I turned around, I decided to walk my 10 and 2′s (1o minutes running, 2 walking), and did that the rest of the way.  I had cramps on the side of my abdomen about 8 miles in, so I did walk for a bout 5 minutes to smooth that out.  Once I started running again, it never came back.

The weather on the trail was, again, pretty muggy with no breeze.  Typical scenario of the many runs over the past couple of weeks.

Summary:

Location: Capital Crescent Trail, Bethesda, MD
Conditions: Hot and muggy, 81-83
Goal: 8 miles
Results: 8 miles
Time: 1:41:47
Pace: 12:43/mile
Total Training Miles to Date: 79
Click here to view my complete training schedule

Thoughts:
All in all, I feel like I will be able to run the half marathon next weekend without any trouble.  I will most likely run the first 3-5 miles straight through, then do the 10 and 2 rest of the way.  This is very early in my 18-week training for the Las Vegas Marathon to be doing a half-marathon, so my plans are to just finish it and enjoy the weekend in Virginia Beach!

What I’ll remember most:
Not having music and trying to outrun the crying babies.