Stupid Nike+

So...I may or may not have finished my 5 mile run on Monday thinking I was the fastest person ever. When I told Justin my super-speed time of 42:55, he said "Great job!" all while still looking a little unconvinced because, well, let's face it - Bea Arthur and I run pretty much at the same pace. (Yes, the dead Golden Girl.) I just thought he was jealous of me and brushed it off.

I was playing around the Nike+ forums yesterday when I read something about calibration. WHA? Supposedly, I was supposed to calibrate my Nike+ to run according to my stride. Yeah. Didn't do that. So, when using my sensor to run, I was actually running less than I thought. When that little voice would say "1 mile completed" it was more like "Not really 1 mile completed. But almost 1 mile completed. In like 2 minutes."

I was really bummed at first, thinking that my entire training had been a sham so far and I was pretty much back at Square 1. Then I realized that the only real long run I've had was 5 miles (but wasn't really 5), which felt awesome and I definitely could have gone farther. All of my other runs have been 3-4 mile runs that have actually been mapped out and I know the distance is correct.

Tonight was technically a night off but I wanted to get this bad boy in order before my long run this week. So I took my handy dandy Nike+ to a local high school track and ran around 4 times (I think it's actually the first time I've ever HONESTLY run a mile around a high school track...)to calibrate it to my running style and stride. I'm going to test it out tomorrow and see if it's still a lying biotch little off or if it's just right.

Which brings me to a question...

When I originally started my training schedule, I had the date of the race wrong. I actually started my 12-week training program 13 weeks before the race. The way the schedule goes now, starting two weeks ago, I run a long run every Saturday, each Saturday building up a mile. I started at 4, then 5 and it goes all the way up to 12 miles the Saturday before the race. Since I was a week off, I thought, "Hey! I can actually add one more week to my training and do 13 miles before the race! Then I'll KNOW I can do 13.1!" But now, since I had my slip-up with not really doing 5 miles this week (more like 4.1 UGH!) I have a decision to make.

Anyone who has ever lived with me or known me for a long time just shuddered, as making decisions isn't one of my fortes. For my run this weekend I can either:

a.) Repeat the 5 miler I "ran" last week and do the 6 miles I was supposed to run this Saturday next Saturday. This will mean I'll only get up to 12 miles before the race. I know this is how the training program is supposed to go, but I'm not so sure how confident I'll be going into a race having never run the distance before. I'm a little nervous about making the jump from 4.2 to 6 miles.
b.) Brush off last week's flub and go for the 6 miles anyway. Hey! It's just 1.8 miles farther than I actually ran! (Which, HOLY HELL IS A LOT FARTHER! come on, is that so bad?) This way, I'll be able to go 13 miles the week before the race.

Either way, I'll need LOTS of encouragement as I run my farthest distance to date this Saturday! This training thing is getting intense!