I usually do my long runs in an area away from my neighborhood because there are more runners in that location than in mine. But this time I didn't feel like getting in my car and going somewhere to run. I wanted to just walk out my door and start my Garmin. So that is what I did. The night before, I mapped out my route and had a couple of route alternates in the event that I had to make last minute changes. I was SO nervous. I felt like I was going to do a race and not a training run. Of course I could hardly sleep and it didn't help that I had to get up early. Let's just say there was very little sleeping and more tossing and turning.
I got up at 4 a.m., drank my protein shake and headed out the door. Looking back I had way too much gear for this run. I had my baseball cap, head light, fanny pack filled with granola, water bottle and pepper spray. Gear alone I probably added another ten pounds to my body. I kept my pace very slow early on cause I wasn't sure how I would feel as I kept going. At the seven mile mark my foot arch started hurting again which has become a regular ache during my long runs. I stopped for a bit to massage my foot and then I kept on going.
Once I reached ten miles I was surprised at how good I felt. I had been slowly increasing my pace but wanted to keep my heart rate at a lower range till the last five miles. When I run I keep my Garmin on the hear rate screen so that I can see what range I'm in. For this run in particular (or any long run for that matter) I really don't like to look at my watch. I'd rather run by how I feel and not focus on pace or time. After I pass my halfway point on my long runs I always text my wife and tell her where I am and how I'm doing. It helps give her some piece of mind and also helps me keep going because she has great words of encouragement.
I had to make a change in my route to stop and get more water and before I knew it I had already run sixteen miles! Feeling a little achy but pretty good I started to pick up my pace a bit. Right when I decided to kick it up a notch I feel a strange buzz on my wrist. My Garmin was talking to me which was odd because I had just passed my mile mark and there was no way that I finished that mile in two minutes. I look down at my watch to see that the battery on my watch was dying. WHAT!? I could have sworn that the battery was full or at least very close to full when I started my run. I had four more miles to run and no idea how much battery power was left in that watch to finish this run. If this watch died before my run was over I was going to cry till my eyes popped out of my sockets.
The good thing about my low battery was that it lit a fire under my butt and made me run even faster. I just kept praying and running, praying and running. Everything was going good, my watch hadn't died and I was two miles away from finishing when I was hit with an intense urge to go to the bathroom. This was not runner's trot fortunately. All the water that I drank before and during the run suddenly decided that it was ready to hit my bladder at the same time. With each strike of my feet it felt as though my bladder was getting fuller and sinking deeper. To make sure that I didn't relieve myself mid-stride for all the world to see I had to change up my stride and cadence. I looked kind of like an ostrich but not nearly as graceful. *smile* I remained focused on my goal, kept thinking positive thoughts (but not of waterfalls) and did a pretty weak sprint to my 20 mile mark. I DID IT!
Immediately after the run I did some stretches, set up some tea on the stove and plopped into my ice bath that my wife prepared for me. I got some food in my belly as soon as I could, plopped on the couch and put my feet up to get some well needed rest. I felt pretty good minus the slight waddle that I managed to attain as I walked up and down the stairs. All in all I felt great for having run 20 miles... and then two days later happened and all those muscles that I thought were nice and happy were suddenly screaming at me. So THIS is why people say you need weeks to recover from a marathon. I seriously thought that with all the running that I do that I wouldn't be in a great deal of pain after my marathon. Glad to see that I was wrong ahead of time.
I have a 22 mile run next week and then my taper begins. Up until my 20-miler I had very little confidence in myself that I would be able to run this race. Though I am not ashamed of walking breaks and certainly planned to take some during the race I was concerned about not being prepared for this race and dropping out. Did I over estimate the necessary time to prepare for a marathon? Well as I have said in previous posts positive thinking is certainly an important part of training. If I had to walk the remaining six miles of the marathon I would do it just to be able to say that I finished. I'm starting to remember that while getting faster is one of my goals it's not the only goal. Speed will come with time but I want to run for life. So if I plan on running till I'm well into my 90's I have to be proud of and celebrate all of my accomplishments... starting with my first 20 miles.
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