Ran my first 20 mile training run yesterday!!! It was a great success. Last weekend I ran 17, so I was a little nervous yesterday because I hadn't officially run 18, but it turned out pretty fine. We headed over to NJ, near Asbury Park, and ran 4 loops around a 5.1 mile dirt path that surrounded a beautiful reservoir. It is the perfect change of scenery from our beloved Central Park. My only complaint was having to periodically run on gravel...I just don't like running on rocks...it ends up making where my feet connect to my legs hurt worse!
We were a nice little group and did some great talking (love the distraction). Got to ask one of our coaches about his running story (used to be over weight and 17 marathons later he's a marathon coach) as well as lots of questions about race day. Super helpful. Thank you Coach Skinny Vinny! I always had someone to run with until mile 16, when my partner decided she'd head back to the trail head to make it an even 18. So I ran the last 3 miles alone on a beautiful wooded path. It's always challenging to run alone, but it's good for me on these long runs to do so for a bit as I know on race day I'll be alone (in a sea of thousands) at times and maybe especially at the end.
My own mile 18 felt like a huge accomplishment. Up til then I'd only walked about 30 seconds and that was when my partner felt she was gasping for breath at one point so I made her walk. Around mile 18 was a little water station where Team for Kids had placed cups and a cooler...However there was not water left by the time I got there. That was right about the time I felt my leg muscles cramping in a new and different way which I figured was from dehydration. I tried to walk another 30 seconds, but walking was way more painful than running. So I ran the final two miles, at time shuffling 13/mins a mile to finish strong at a less than 10 min/mile pace. It was awesome. A huge part of it's awesomeness was that I really was psychologically ready for it. This was a great run for my body, head and heart!
Of course when it was time to stretch with Coach Asteria I could barely even bend to sit on the ground. I couldn't touch my toes nor could I readily get myself into various stretching positions. Lordy. I was an old 39 year old at that moment.
I feel great today. A little sore/stiff, but I've felt worse having run much shorter distances. I think eating a Luna protein bar immediately and a turkey sandwich in the car home probably helped a lot (protein within the first post run 30 mins). I also drank two glasses of pedialite and finished off my Gatoraid before the car ride home. Sadly, I did not get in an icebath when I got home b/c I had to rush off to a home visit. But I did do an epsom salt bath before bed.
I do have one issue: in the middle of the night I couldn't bend or straighten my right knee. I got some ice and advil. This morning its the same, so as I type I have a bag of frozen blueberries strapped to my knee. The rest of my body feels pretty good actually...so I'm a little worried about this knee thing...I had no strange knee pain while running, nor did I run through anything really painful yesterday...so this is a surprise. Praying ice and advil and some rest helps it go away. And hope to do a simple recovery walk today.
Thank you Sid, Asteria and Skinny Vinny as well as my running partner Andrea for a dream like 20 miler. I really can't believe I did it, but then again I can...if you put the time in anyone can do this. This is the ultimate science experiment and I'm simply amazed that week after week I can go a bit longer.
The big question is did I feel like I could run another 6? Wellll, I felt I could go another mile with little trouble, but another 5 after that would have been really tough and not much fun. We taper back next weekend and have one more 20 miler before race day...hopefully the 2nd 20 miler will leave me feeling like I'm ready for 6.2 more.
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