MY FIRST TWENTY MILER

My twenty mile adventure on Saturday.

Well, my first 20 mile run is in the books. After doing 18 the weekend before, my legs didn't feel super fresh but honestly that was probably good training. They aren't going to feel super fresh on mile 23 of my marathon either. Just have to be careful not to overtrain and to keep stretching and doing other injury prevention measures.

The run went great for the first 18 miles. Seriously, it wasn't bad at all! Like I said, my legs weren't as fresh as the week before, but they didn't really act up until the very end. After getting pissed at myself last week for my average pace on the run I made a concerted effort to go a little bit faster this week. My average pace ended up being 9:30/mile which is just about right for a twenty mile run. In a weird twist (again), my third to last mile was my fastest at 9:06. No idea how that happened.

Shortly after that mile though it went all downhill. Not really in terms of time, those last two miles were still run at a decent clip for the run (9:36 and 9:39). I was in pain however. The run started to catch up with me around mile 16 or so, but for two miles it was just a slight annoyance, my body kind of saying "ummm, hi, I'm tired?" but I was able to run through it no problem. Somewhere around mile 18 my body started to really not like me. It was weird... my legs and muscles were sore and tired, yes, but nothing too crazy. It was more of a mental and energy break down.

I didn't hit the wall  but I certainly didn't fuel myself like I should have. Enough liquids, yes, but not enough calories. I only ate two packets of Gu and that is just not enough for 20 miles after a light breakfast. I need to buy some Shot Bloks or something, because those packets of liquid are just not appetizing more than two on a run. I had another one with me but couldn't bring myself to eat it. Another mile or two and I think I would have hit the wall. I just felt very tired and worn out.

The other part of the 'breakdown' was mental. I have never wanted to cry on a run before, but I did the last two miles of this run. I even tried to cry, thinking it would make me feel better. I couldn't though. I would just have a swell of emotion that would take ever and no way to really channel it. I did moan and grunt and be altogether unattractive though.

Anyways, when I hit 20 miles it was such a relief. Those last two miles SUCKED. I ended up sitting on a fire hydrant to rest a little bit and everybody driving by was looking at me like I was really weird. The .75 mile walk home seemed to take an hour. God that was torture. FINALLY I got home and went upstairs to take an "ice bath," which was just me filling the tub with as cold of water as it would give me. I always think about taking one but never do, so I guess me actually following through with it should you how unique this run was.

My legs hurt and the "ice bath" really did help them feel better. I am glad I did it. After grimacing in there for ten or fifteen minutes I drained the tub, stretched a little, then took a hot bath. That felt amazing. Overall I felt pretty good afterward. The next day I felt pretty good. The legs were definitely tired, but a good tired, not a pained or injured tired. Yesterday at run group though I definitely was still recovering because my average pace was 10:06/mile. It was a shuffle and I told myself to be okay with that. A "recovery jog" if you will.

Now I am going to start obsess about myself getting slower. All this marathon training and long runs mean I never feel very fresh and never really do many fast tempo runs anymore. I need to run marathon pace for an extended period of time, but I can't find a run where I feel good enough to do it without fucking up my next run. Really, my first marathon needs to be about building my mileage base and finishing. Once I am in marathon shape I can worry about speed training for a marathon. Still, I'm getting antsy.