20 Miler!! Time to taper!!

Well, this 20 miler went A LOT better than my last 18 miler. This run was with the Running Fit group. There were like 400 people there. Not a race, just a long run. This is the same course that I bombed my 10k earlier this year, and I stopped and walked a bit during my 8k last year. So I think this course had the best of me mentally. I tell you one thing... the 18 miles I did was broken into spurts... a stop at the Walgreens, a half hour break, water stops. This 20 miler, I was determined not to stop!! I dont plan on stopping during the marathon either!!

It was a simple out and back. The first 5 miles was like nothing! For some reason, 5-6 always cause me problems, mentally and physically. But past mile 6 I was ok. I got to mile 10 leisurely at 1:22:00... and this was faster than when I RACED the Crim 10 miler a month ago. Felt great at that time. Mind you, I was not "running", just easy 8:15'ish pace. I wanted to be closer to 8:30, but I felt good, and this was my prep run for the full. I was passing people left and right, and thought I was going to die soon, but it didnt happen. Hit the 13.1'ish mark around 1:47:00, so my pace was kinda even.

Not to speak too soon, the side stitches kicked in!! It was really bad on my right side for about 2 miles. Tried deep breathing, changing my breathing pattern, stretching out. It just wouldn't go away. I got a sports drink at one of the stops and took 2 cups. This seemed to help. Now I could have sworn they said that they would supply Gu at one of the stops, but no Gu. So I'm running this entire 20 miles with no fuel. I did down a Rip'it Energy Drink just prior to getting there, so that may have helped. Mile 16 is where a lot of people stopped, because it was at the finish, the 20 milers had to go back out 2 miles then return.

This was good for me, because I really wanted to simulate a race day technique... run the last 2 miles. So that's what I did. I picked off people 1 by 1. My last 2 miles were sub-8 minutes. It was really hard to pick it up. I wanted to be close to sub-7 like I do during the last 1.5 miles of my 6 mile run at home. But I finished. I felt really good. I'm with a new confidence now!!!! That 18 miler had me second guessing myself, but I did this without stopping and without Gu. So I know I'm ready. So now I'm in tapering mode... no more long runs over 14 miles. 2 quality runs per week until the week of the race. Gotta do one day of hill training just because. As you may see, I am not following FIRST, or Galloway, or Pfitz, Higdon or Daniel's. I'm doing an ala carte of each. My goal is under 3:45:00. I will feel 100% accomplished if I did sub-3:30:00.

I have this half miler next weekend. I dont know if I'm going to "run" it or not... I think I am. But those 5 miles straight uphill sounds like a killer!!! Time to psych myself up for this. And so I run on...

18 Miles!!!! (addendum)

OMG!!! I was sooooo sore the next day!! My muscles sooooo tight! Am I really ready for this full?? I have a group 20 miler this weekend, now I'm having doubts. People keep saying the taper will help... I hope so. I couldn't take it, I was almost sore like my very first half. So I decided to do a very slow 4 miles. I did this by TIME not FEEL. I wanted to stay over 8:30 pace ( I read somewhere that even elite Kenyans do this on recovery days). Even if I wanted to run faster, I dont think I could.

Now, my main focus is on quality runs. I believe I have the endurance to hang on til the end, but now my major focus til the race is form, breathing, and relaxing. So I'm thinking of doing a 1 hour swim (a long lost past time of mine) since I have the time. I'll report back after this 20 miler... and so I run on...

MY NEXT HALF MARATHON

PRAY FOR ME!!!!

18 Miles!!!!

I am going to start my taper in a week. I plan on doing my 20 mile run this weekend. Of course that will be the longest run of my life! I have this week off from work, so I decided to cram another long run in before the weekend. Of course, the weather has been absolutely wonderful this past week... but today it was super sunny and almost 80 degrees. I was still going to do it. I loaded up on fluids before the run and took a 16oz bottle with me. That water was gone by mile 5!! At mile 7, I was still at least 4 miles from home, so I stopped at a Walgreen's and bought a Gatorade. I wisened up this time and stuffed some cash in my pocket. I also took a Gu at mile 5, just as my water ran out.

I just could not get my pace up, but that was good because I was not trying to do an all out tempo pace. I took a break after 12 miles. I hadn't eaten all day so I was really starting to feel the fatigue (and hunger). So I downed an unknown amount of chocolate milk rested about half hour and took back to the pavement. I felt rested, but for some reason, this time around was REALLY tough. I have this 6 mile route that I run, which is mostly uphill, but it never felt this hard. Actually, around mile 4, I was like "I aint running this marathon... I aint gettin paid for this pain... when is it going to be over?"

So all in all, I got in 18 miles today!! Its something that I have never done before... and I was running for 2 hours and 30 minutes total!!!!!!!!!! Wow!!! But I did get a toe blister and a near bleeding nipple for the ordeal. LOL. I'm taking tomorrow TOTALLY off, doing a quality workout on Wednesday, and not running again til my 20 miler on Saturday. Wish me luck... so I run on...

LSD is some good stuff!!

So I just had my 10k race this past weekend. The weather has been soooo nice as of recent (not including my 10 mile race weather). I just KNEW I was going to PR this race. I was saying to myself the entire time... PR PR PR PR... But lo and behold... its a rainy day. Good thing I didnt register in advance! But what the heck, i'ma run it anyways in the rain. Actually, it was not raining as bad as I thought it was. But it was a little chilly, and i'm not complaining. The start had the typical people who start in the front, run side by side with their chat buddies, and come to a complete walk within half a mile. I had to give a couple of people a shoulder as I passed, and didnt apologize. After about 1 mile, the congestion cleared. I was taking it easy, didnt want a repeat of the 10 miler. I tried to stay around 7:15 pace for the race, but remember, I have a Garmin. There were mile markers with times on every one, which was REAL nice!! I didnt know how far back I was from the gun, so I guestimated my mile splits with the help of Garmin. I used the 305 for the first time, and it was pretty accurate for the mile markers.

After 2 miles, I felt like i was just cruising, but didnt want to fool myself. My 3rd mile felt the best!!! I was on top of the world, not tired, not huffin / puffin. But for some reason mile 4-5 always have something against me in all races. It hurt a little, but not much. I just kept saying, "keep your turnover fast". Actually, I felt like I could run faster, but I just knew I would die before the end. After mile 5, i started to tighten up, and couldnt stretch out. But i just kept my turnover rate, with choppy steps. I remember at mile 5.5 last year there were 2 hills that hurt... I was waiting for them. Either I conquered them with ease, or they slightly changed the course to omit them. But the next thing I know, I see the main street which meant about .7 miles left. This was my delima... should I pick it up now and hold on, or should I keep at this pace and dart it in for the last .2 or so. I chose the latter (still afraid of dying at the end). Came to the finish... 44:05 and a NEW PR!!!! By one minute. I couldn't be happier, except I KNOW I left some on the course. I was able to recover within a minute or so when they got my chip. No huffin / puffin. So I guess I'm now convinced about the LSD... its some good stuff!!

BTW... LSD is not a drug, its Long Slow Distance. I'm used to tempo runs. Now I am going to concentrate on speed. I got this full marathon the 3rd week of October. I have a Half Marathon 2 weeks before that. I dont know why I signed up for the Detroit Marathon as my first full... its gonna be tuff!!! But I feel good!!! Below are my Garmin splits:

Mile 1) 7:06
Mile 2) 7:06
Mile 3) 6:58
Mile 4) 7:02
Mile 5) 7:08
Mile 6) 7:13
Last 0.2) forgot to stop Garmin

Half-way Mark in Practice!!

So I signed up for the Detroit Marathon... the full!!! Lord knows that I dont want to waste my money and not run it. I just hope its not hot!!! My confidence is rising on whether I can finish. My pride says run a 3:30:00, but my better judgement says 3:30:00 - 3:45:00, yet my gut says under 4 hours.

So its 7 weeks until the big day. I embarked on a long run this past Tuesday. Started at 8pm and did not finish until 10pm. I felt like I could run for days!! I didnt want to stop. Its far and few that I get into that mode. But it was so cool outside and I hydrated well that all I needed was two bottles. Didnt even need a Gu or anything. My motto was "Dont look at the Garmin, just run by feel, slow down if needed because this is a practice run". Actually, I did stop for 1 - 2 minutes to guzzle down some fluids at mile 10. I really didnt feel fatigued at all. After coming to the harsh reality that I had to work in the morning, I turned it in... I finished with a grand total of 14 miles run in that interim. That is the longest I have ever run in my entire life. If you asked me that a year ago, I would laugh in your face!! But, that is only half-way... the marathon is 26.2 miles!!!! So I run on...