Training Notes

Planned mileage was 10-11 miles and I ended up doing closer to 12 because I missed the turn onto Neptune Street in Encinitas. This is amusing because the course is incredibly narrow going North to South - Highway 101 is about 2 blocks to the East, and nothing smaller than the Pacific Ocean is the West boundary. Still I managed to get wayward and add a mile. That puts me over my training plan which is always a worry this close to the event.

I'm still trying to get faster - I'm so close to the goal, but narrowly missing it. I tried to mix up my faster jog and walk pace to see if I could increase my overall mile pace by a few seconds per mile. It worked in general but I got tired and lost time in the back miles. Between the extra running and the extra miles, I was a little worried that I'd be very sore today. Luckily, I feel great. I did skip the Carlsbad 5000 this morning though. That much extra running seemed like courting injury.

A few observations and things I need to change -

• It's far, far easier to jog at a 11 minute pace than it is to walk at a 13:30 minute pace. Of course, jogging is harder on my knees so I need to limit that.
• My beloved Saucony sneakers have come to the end of their usable life. After 1 marathon, 5 half marathons and all the training in between they simply are finished as running shoes. Goodbye old friends, hello Zappos.
• I drank a lot more than usual. I guzzled an entire 24 oz bottle of hydration mix in under 7 miles. I'm always a big drinker on the course, but that's a lot even for me. It was a cool, breezy day and I shouldn't have needed that much hydration. It must have been the running.
• My old fuel belt is unacceptable for faster running. The big single bottle keeps hitting me in the back. I need use multiple bottle belt. Of course since I'm drinking tons, I'm worried that it won't hold enough hydration fluid. Also, learning to use a new type of belt takes a bit of practice so that I can drink quickly without losing a few seconds with fumbling to grab or reattach the bottles. It sounds trivial but if I lose 5 seconds every time I take a drink that could easily add a few minutes to my time. This is another little complexity to add before a time pinched race. This is the fourth fuel belt that I've tried since I started training 15 months ago. I just can't seem to find the perfect belt.
• I need to reconfigure my Garmin - the front panel needs to have: current pace, current mile pace, race pace and total distance. Luxury information such as elevation/grade and time of day are out - it's all about pace now.
  
• When I run more my nutrition becomes problematic. In the past, I had about a 10 minute window from the time I noticed that I needed a Power Gel to the time I bonked. Yesterday, I bonked in about 10 seconds. In the past, I could easily go to about 10-11 miles without fear of the bonk. Yesterday, I crashed out at just under 10 miles. I'm going to need to rework my hydration/nutrition plan. This may have something to do with the fact that I'm eating a lot less carbs in my overall diet.