My Longest Training Run. Ever.
On Saturday, I ran my longest training run EVER. I have never gone over 20 miles on a training run (the one mile walking cool down that Karen and I have done about a million times does not count as going over 20 miles) and this training cycle I finally hit 22.
Not sure if anyone else recalls this, but last fall I was supposed to run 22 and I failed that run on back to back days. You can read that here. I remember how worried/flustered I was after that run. I remember how different my mental game was one year ago. Even though Saturday was not a perfect run (it was hot, I was terribly sweaty, and I paused at one point to basically lacrosse ball my quad with my fist), there was never any doubt in my mind that I would finish the run. Never.
I had 22 miles with 8 of them at MGP (7:45 per Coach!), so first up, let's take a look at splits.
Mile 1: 8:34
Mile 2: 8:26
Mile 3: 8:19
Mile 4: 8:25
Mile 5: 8:23
Mile 6: 8:10
Mile 7: 8:18
Mile 8: 8:11
Mile 9: 8:10
Mile 10: 8:12
Mile 11: 8:11
Mile 12: 7:32
Mile 13: 7:33
Mile 14: 7:26
Mile 15: 7:26
Mile 16: 7:31
Mile 17: 7:31
Mile 18: 7:31
Mile 19: 7:35
Mile 20: 8:08
Mile 21: 8:20
Mile 22: 8:00
As you can see, all of the marathon pace miles were pretty hot. Whoops. And on the early miles, as I could see my pace creeping faster before I wanted to run the pace miles, I really had to think HARD to force myself to slow down. So I am taking those things as good signs. In addition, that 8:20 at the end likely would have been a good bit faster, but I was coming down a steep hill and I actually walked down it. So, there is that.
I went to Lunken airport and Armleder Park to do this run. My marathon (in less than three weeks!) is on a looped course, 8 loops of just over three miles (with a run on/run off) and so I wanted to practice running loops, mostly for the mental strength of it. And while that part was tough (especially in the later miles since I chose to stick my pace miles toward the end), I pulled it off.
A few other things of note... Bob Roncker's - a running store with training groups in Cincinnati - was also doing one of their long training runs in this same place. So they had tents with big water jugs in a few places around the park, and I was able to stop, refill, and chat for a few minutes. Also, when I stopped to "lacrosse ball" my quad, one of their coaches stopped to check on me. So to that man, thanks, and I foam rolled when I got home and am feeling ok.
So I am going to keep rolling with this week, run my final long run before taper (18 miles, convo pace) and then be ready to race. Wish me luck!
Not sure if anyone else recalls this, but last fall I was supposed to run 22 and I failed that run on back to back days. You can read that here. I remember how worried/flustered I was after that run. I remember how different my mental game was one year ago. Even though Saturday was not a perfect run (it was hot, I was terribly sweaty, and I paused at one point to basically lacrosse ball my quad with my fist), there was never any doubt in my mind that I would finish the run. Never.
I had 22 miles with 8 of them at MGP (7:45 per Coach!), so first up, let's take a look at splits.
Mile 1: 8:34
Mile 2: 8:26
Mile 3: 8:19
Mile 4: 8:25
Mile 5: 8:23
Mile 6: 8:10
Mile 7: 8:18
Mile 8: 8:11
Mile 9: 8:10
Mile 10: 8:12
Mile 11: 8:11
Mile 12: 7:32
Mile 13: 7:33
Mile 14: 7:26
Mile 15: 7:26
Mile 16: 7:31
Mile 17: 7:31
Mile 18: 7:31
Mile 19: 7:35
Mile 20: 8:08
Mile 21: 8:20
Mile 22: 8:00
As you can see, all of the marathon pace miles were pretty hot. Whoops. And on the early miles, as I could see my pace creeping faster before I wanted to run the pace miles, I really had to think HARD to force myself to slow down. So I am taking those things as good signs. In addition, that 8:20 at the end likely would have been a good bit faster, but I was coming down a steep hill and I actually walked down it. So, there is that.
I went to Lunken airport and Armleder Park to do this run. My marathon (in less than three weeks!) is on a looped course, 8 loops of just over three miles (with a run on/run off) and so I wanted to practice running loops, mostly for the mental strength of it. And while that part was tough (especially in the later miles since I chose to stick my pace miles toward the end), I pulled it off.
A few other things of note... Bob Roncker's - a running store with training groups in Cincinnati - was also doing one of their long training runs in this same place. So they had tents with big water jugs in a few places around the park, and I was able to stop, refill, and chat for a few minutes. Also, when I stopped to "lacrosse ball" my quad, one of their coaches stopped to check on me. So to that man, thanks, and I foam rolled when I got home and am feeling ok.
So I am going to keep rolling with this week, run my final long run before taper (18 miles, convo pace) and then be ready to race. Wish me luck!
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