Running DX Back Up to 12 Miles

Yesterday I set out on my run around the neighborhood once again, determined to have a "long-mileage" day. I had extended my course by 1.14 miles, meaning that should I complete it I would attain 12 miles. And I did, while avoiding experiencing the kinds of lower leg and foot aches and cramps I regularly experienced in cooler weather early this year when covering similar distances. I attribute this to following renown marathon runner Jeff Galloway's sage advice to take periodic short walking breaks throughout the run.

I always run the first seven minutes and then walk for one. Then I run six, walk one, run six, etcera, until the run is completed. By doing this, I calculate that I actually run about 95% of the distance. I have noticed that I not only feel more refreshed and energized at the end of each walking break, but also I correct my stride to a more comfortable form upon resuming my running. And by doing this, it gives me the enormous psychological advantage of breaking up my run into shorter segments, with a walking break never too far off into the future, regardless of the ultimate length of that day's run.

In spite of my walking breaks during yesterday's 12-mile run, I still ran comfortably ahead of the pace I had set during this past February's LifeSouth Five Points Half-Marathon, held here in Gainesville. So I fully intend to take walking breaks throughout any future long-distance races I enter.

Speaking of future races, there is a half-marathon in Gainesville scheduled for November that I plan to enter. On December 19, Jacksonville will be holding its own marathon. On January 11, 2011, the wild-and-extremely-crowded (last year had 24,000 runners) Disney World Marathon happens. And in mid-February, I'm back to Gainesville's Five Points event, this time planning to go the full marathon distance.

Well, that's my agenda as far as upcoming long-distance races are concerned. As for September and October, there are also plenty of those painfully short 5K races in which I could run. But as I have written before, these have become too tedious in more ways than one. If I can find a race during the next two months that is reasonably long and not too far away from Gainesville, then I may just enter it. Otherwise, I'll just stick to my neighborhood running, gradually increasing my mileage over the next several weeks.