Last 20 Miler

I finished the second twenty miler on Thursday, and I couldn’t be happier about it. I’m happy with the run itself and I’m happy to be done with it. I ran with my training partner, Deb, who is also doing MCM. Here is a picture after we were done. As you can see, it was a beautiful day and we were still smiling. My goal for the run was to keep a 10:20 pace and to feel good at the end. I averaged 10:19 and felt like I could have picked up the pace for another 6 miles. Doing that on race day would be perfect, putting me across the finish line in under 4:30. Who knows what will happen on race day, but I’m happy with my training and think I put myself in the position to have a good race.

My running friends know that I’m a little quirky when it comes to my long runs. A lot of it comes from years of running only by myself, therefore always doing things “my way.” The thing I hate most on long runs is having to stop all of the time. I’m intellectually opposed to it because, on race day, I don’t stand around and gab every two miles while I get a drink. If I’m not stopping on race day, then I don’t want to stop during training. I’m also “physically opposed” to it because I tighten up very quickly. Once I stop and stand around for a few minutes, my legs just don’t want to work anymore. If I stop every two miles during a 20 mile run, that’s 10 stops. By the end, I can hardly bend over anymore. I do much better mentally and physically if I just keep moving.

This is my long explanation of why there is a table in the background of the photo. I thought it would be a great idea to set up my own water stop. There is a 2 mile loop around my house, so a fully stocked water stop at the end of the driveway would supply everything needed for a 20 mile run with absolutely no stopping. In my mind, perfection. Yes, I filled up the cups ahead of time and threw the empties in the yard. GU packets, too. Mike says that having my own water stop puts me officially in the “nut” category, but I’m okay with that. Luckily, Deb has a good sense of humor and puts up with my eccentricities. She was also a good sport about running the same loop over and over again. Being a boring former accountant, the repetitiveness of it didn’t bother me at all, but I’m sure running the same 2 mile loop 10 times doesn’t sound like a lot of fun to most people.

After long runs, I’ve been wearing Skins Recovery Tights. While I can’t vouch for whether they actually help speed recovery, they do make my legs feel a whole lot better after a long run. After runs over 15 miles, my legs throb and ache enough that it can be hard to sleep. With the tights, I don’t get that throbbing sensation and they don’t feel sore. I’ve been wearing them the rest of the day after my run and then sleeping in them that night, and by the next day my legs feel fine. On Saturday my legs felt fine during my run.

This morning, I ran my long run for this week since I can’t fit it in at the end of the week. The 12 mile run was my last long run. Next week is only 8 miles and then it will be time for the race. It’s still very warm here so I’m getting mentally prepared for warm weather on race day. I don’t know what will happen on race day, but the training cycle has gone well and I’m feeling healthier than I ever have before a marathon. I’m very happy with the Hal Higdon training plan that I have been using. Only 18 more days!