A group of Buckeye Striders met at 7 this morning at Griggs Reservoir. We all had different goals today, ranging from simply finishing 12 miles to getting in a fast 6 or 8. It was a pretty casual workout. We started at a very slow pace of about a 15-min mile picking up to about 14:30. As we walked, a few people would stop to use the restroom and we all slowed down. As people reached their mileage goals for the day, they would peel off. Eventually, the only ones left were me and Deb! We were the only 12 milers.

We neared our cars with 3 miles left, so I stopped to switch shoes to give my new Altras (zero-drop shoes) a few miles.

Near the police station we stopped to get water from the drinking fountain thinking it would be cooler than what we were carrying, but it wasn’t. A guy resting near the fountain offered to give me a cold drink from his car, but I declined. We had just 2 miles to go, and there was cold water and Powerade in my car.

Though it was extremely humid this morning, it wasn’t overly hot until that last couple miles when we climbed the hill. Before that, the skies had been overcast — near the end the sun popped out and the temps rose quickly. We ended up slowing even more, turning this into a casual walk for the last half mile. But that was OK. Our goal was to finish, not finish fast.

Despite the heat and humidity, we felt pretty good at the end! We didn’t walk very hard and that was OK. (Normally it would drive me nuts to slow down while people used the rest room or to switch shoes.) My HR monitor indicated I didn’t go above 144, which is way below race pace. With all of the slowing down and stopping, etc., we still averaged about a 15-min per mile pace! That was much better than what I thought.

So, it was a good workout in heat! I think we will be ready August 20th!

NOTE: Though I do lots of half marathons, I don’t recall completing a 12-mile training walk before. Usually we top out at 10 miles. Ten is enough to finish a half marathon, but I’m trying to break the 3-hour mark. I’m hoping that by increasing our longest day to 12, it will help me to have more stamina and finish faster.

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