20 Miler

I ran 20 miles in 3:21:45 (10:05 avg. pace) on Saturday. Here's how it went:

Arrived at Lake Junaluska at 8:00 a.m. ready to go. However, my fully charged Garmin (pbtn) wouldn't turn on. Nooooo! I headed home, since I had no other watch and no way to even tell what 20 miles was without Garmin. I remembered this happening once before and the "fix" was to press 2 of Garmin's buttons together at the same time to "reset". But which two? I tried different combinations in the car on the way home, and just 2 exits down trhe frewway, Garmin came to life! So back to the Lake I went...

So, now it's nearly 8:30. It's about 68 degrees and balmy. I wondered if it was gonna get much hotter. Now that Garmin was working, I set my workout up using Workouts/ Advanced. I set the 20-miler up this way:

2 Miles @ 10:30 pace
7 Miles @ 10:16 pace
8 Miles @ 10:05 pace
3 Miles @ 9:51 pace

I planned to throw in 30 second surges @ 10K pace every 2-3 minutes in the last 3 miles. Why? Because Ritz says so, that's why! In the latest issue of Running Times Magazine, he says that doing this actually helps you recover faster from a long run.

Here's how I felt:

Miles 1-2. No sweat. Had to keep slowing myself down with walks.

Miles 3-9. Still cruising. Had to watch Garmin carefully to keep it at 10:16. Around mile 7-8, though, I was thinking an increase to 10:05? Seems kinda fast...

Miles 8-17. Keeping 10:05 pace pretty well until about mile 15. Feet hurting, low back started hurting (telling me form/ biomechanics is playing a role). Really, really not looking forward to the last 3 miles.Really, really thinking I was stupid for not bringing more than 1 bottle of Gatorade.

I am DYING of thirst, here! Looking for hoses, mud puddles, anything liquid!



Miles 18, 19, 20. After mile 17, I stopped at the car and changed shoes and put my orthotics in. Felt immensely better, but the aching in my back had set in and nothing was going to alleviate it at this point. The first surge was really hard. Had no idea if I was surging at true 10K pace, but it felt that fast to me. Lots of negative thoughts. JUST LIKE IN A MARATHON. I noted this and tried to come up with a successful counter to use in the marathon. Didn't have too much success with this, other than pretending to be Ritz. The girl version of Ritz. Duh!

Tough run. Slept 12 hours to recover.