Saturday, September 6, 2008

20 miles!!!! is a long way to run

It took me so long to map out a route on google pedometer last night that I was feeling rather discouraged at the true reality of how long 20 miles is when I went to sleep last night. I woke up ready to go though, earlier than I needed to get up really, but I hopped out of bed and started my hour of prep before heading out the door. I had loaded up hours of podcasts in an effort to stave off the boredom that hit me during my mid-week 10 miler. (I resorted to calling my best friend and then my sister and looking like a moron I am sure as I ran down the road talking on my speakerphone...the things boredom will lead us to.) The first 5 miles flew by, and really now that I think about it, so did the rest of them. I was trying to refine my water and fuel intake and did manage to drink a lot more fluids this time around, but also had to stop a few times to go to the bathroom. Thank goodness for the frequent appearance of Starbucks and their nice clean bathrooms!

I cruised along at a pretty good pace, trying to remind myself to slow it down every once in a while. At mile 12 I realized I was more than 8 miles from home and would have to alter my original plan to run back home, so I ran to 16 miles and then decided to take the train to the stop that is 4 miles from home. While I waited for the train in front of a bakery that was just oozing delicious smells I decided to use my emergency money to purchase an emergency cinnamon roll, which I then devoured swiftly. It fueled me through my last FAST four miles, at the point I was feeling great and wasn't going to slow down for anything.

My left knee bugged me consistently throughout the run, and I'm icing it now. Other than that things went great! and I am considering altering my training plan to do another 20 next week to build up my confidence a little more. But we'll see, I am wary of overdoing it when things are going well.

Now I am off to eat and take a nap and rest up for date night with Fiance.

1 comment:

Rachel said...

20 miles is a LONG way to run. Seems like we're on the same page! Date night afterwards is great recovery too (I did the same thing!)