FIRST TWENTY IN TWENTY NINETEEN

Classic waterfront loop and Springwater spur.

Things continue to tick along successfully. Last weekend I completed my first twenty mile run of the training cycle. That is always a milestone, although each training cycle it seems to become less of one. It's been encouraging just how painless the transition back into marathon form has been. I lost a lot while unmotivated this last winter, yet I am back and hopefully on pace to improve on my time from last year. Gotta keep on track and not blow up marathon day.

As I mentioned, last weekend was my first twenty mile run of the training cycle. The group I am training with was only planning nineteen, they hadn't hit twenty yet, but I got there 10 minutes early to run an extra mile. That meant a 6:35am wake up call. Ugh. Anyways, it was relatively painless. However, in the fog of morning brain I put on my everyday shoes instead of my running shoes. Yikes! Now, these everyday shoes are retired running shoes, but they have 440 miles on them (460 now) and are DEAD in terms of running support. So I noticed that a few miles in.

Also, I am part of an indoor soccer league and we have games on Friday nights. This has been an obstacle all training cycle and I think in the long run it'll actually be a net positive. My legs being just a little more tired from a half hour of soccer the night before should make these long runs that much more effective. We'll see. Anyways, couple those already a bit tired legs with dead shoes on the hottest long run morning so far, and you have the recipe for a bad run.

Honestly though, the run wasn't bad! My legs were a little more tired and achy than usual due the shoes and I started feeling the miles earlier in the run as well. However, I was able to finish without too much of a problem and felt like normal later that day and the next day. So no harm done. The weather was warm, hot even, but manageable. I have never been one to complain about the heat. Worst it can get if you start at a reasonable hour is high 70s or low 80s by the end. Just hydrate and enjoy the extra training effect.

The worst part of the run was MAJOR chaffing in the inner thigh area. Right where the "briefs" in my shorts have their seams. This was the worst chaffing I have ever experienced. It was brutal. I wished death upon myself in the shower after the run. My legs are still red today, five days later. Chaffing has been more of an issue this time around. It never used to be a problem, but I've had some low level stuff and this run just exploded things. I'm going to have to completely rethink my long run lubrication strategy.

Lastly, I'll talk about the interval run I did last night. I'm just kind of making my speed workouts up as I go along. So last night I decided to do 4 x 1 mile with some warm up and warm down to hit six miles on the night. I've never done a workout like this before, so I was interested to see how it went. My goal was to go below 7:30 on each interval and I was able to do that. 7:17, 7:06, 7:14, 7:09. It was actually kind of fun! I walked a quarter mile between each one for rest. Afterward, my body felt great and I surprised myself at how fast I was able to do them. Also can't believe I ran a 5k at 6:35/mi at one point.

Anyways, it is back to Roseburg for camping this weekend. Last time I went I couldn't bring myself to run because I felt like trash after sleeping on the ground. So I am going to run 12 miles tonight instead. That'll be my long run this week, and then I'll fit in another 6 when I get back on Sunday evening.