Training does not necessarily stop because of the holidays, actually with only a few weeks left before our run these are probably the more critical training sessions of our whole program. Anyway, my training while in Elko got off to a not so good start due to some snow early in the week. I had to run a couple of days in the treadmill which has never been my favorite choice. Midweek, I was able to get outside and I found a nice 6 mile loop that took me through the town.
I decided to do my long run for the week today (friday) instead of the scheduled saturday since I was on an off schedule routine already and I can also enjoy the holiday weekend without being too tired. Our schedule called for a 20 mile run today but given that I am a few thousand feet higher in altitude I decided to shorten it a bit. Since I had a 6 mile loop mapped out I decided I would run this path 3 times, this would also give me a way to grab a new bottle of water every time I would come by the house.
The run was far more complex than our usual canal runs, the difference is mostly based on some pretty heavy hills that I had to climb. Because of where my parents live, it was a 10 minute downhill run to the town’s center, a good 20-25 minutes through the town and then a climb back to the house. The climb involved 4 hills (and their downhill part too) which had not been part of my previous training. I completed the 3 laps in 2:14:56 which leads me to believe it was not quite 18 miles but a little less. The pace of 18 miles would’ve been 7:29 which seems too fast, for 17 miles it was about 7:56 which feels a little more appropriate.
We are three weeks away from our race (Jan 15th) and this was the last run trying to build up milage. We start tapering down now leading to race day so you can say that we have finished the second phase of our training. Now it is more a matter of remaining injury free and more importantly try to avoid that common cold typical of this time of the year.
It is over! I have successfully completed my first twenty mile training run this past saturday morning and I can certainly tell you that 20 miles is a long way to run, it tests every aspect of your training and can break your morale in the process. However, once you realize you have completed the most grueling part of your training you have a real sense of accomplishment. Something that can only be topped by completing the actual race in a matter of few weeks.
It was rough but I completed the 20 miles in 2:44:20 which turns out to be a 8:12 pace, leaving plenty of room for improvement. I can break the run in a few stages, similar to how I felt on the road. Going out I was running with the group and three of us had a great pace going. We reached the turn around point in 1:17:54 (7:47 pace) but I spent a lot of energy trying to get comfortable. On the way back, I got caught in traffic a couple of times which meant I was going to be running on my own the last eight miles, something that can be a very grueling task.
I was not able to think/walk/convince myself to keep the 8:00 pace during the last few miles, I was anywhere between 8:30 and 9:00 which is why my average climbed up from the first 10 miles going out. I am not happy with the time but I am ecstatic about the fact that I completed the distance and today I feel relatively well. I made the mistake to break in some new shoes on this run but I didn’t want to use my old ones and risk hurting my foot once again. I will have another opportunity to improve my time in a couple of weeks, when I will be running at home (remember to bring some music along!) during the holidays.
It is hard to get excited about our mid-week runs since they have become a little monotonous. You just want to get the 6 miles done and since we have been running the same route for a few weeks, the view has also lost its charm. I try to find little things to keep me occupied during the run, sometimes a conversation with someone else but tonight was a game of don’t-get-caught.
While running away from a couple of people, I found myself closing the gap with a runner that passed me earlier, the game was on. Try not to get caught while attempting to catch the person in front of me. I caught up to him with about a mile left and I felt about making up the distance that I kept up my pace. It was awesome and I didn’t feel like I was forcing myself which makes it even a little more rewarding. I ended up covering the 6.2 miles in 43:48 minutes. Just a little change to keep things interesting during these runs.
After the scare with my foot from a couple of weeks ago, I decided to take the following week off, giving it time to heal. Tuesday’s run was the time I was on the road again after those nine days off and I felt it. It was like having to learn to run once again and my breathing and form was all over the place.
Thursday was much better, I felt comfortable once again and things felt good all around. My time for the six miles also showed things were back closer to normal, I was able to keep a pace similar to those runs before my break. I was ready for the Saturday long run of fourteen miles.
This week was a break in the training with only fourteen miles being on the schedule and our last run before the 20 miler we have next week. We had a nice group of about 10 people staying together for most of the outbound leg, everyone was chatty and in pretty good spirits. The social aspect of our group makes it so much easier to go the distance, specially when your body is not at its peak. After the turn around, the group broke apart a little bit with some people speeding up at different spots. Glenn and I were pushing each other through our body pains and kept a pretty good pace for the length of the return trip.
We ran a time of 1:48:51 for the fourteen miles which is a 7:46 pace. My foot felt a little sore during the run, specially the last few miles but it was nothing like the run when I first felt the pain. I am also going to replace my shoes in preparation for the long twenty mile run to provide my feet a little more cushioning. I think next week’s run not only will it be a physical challenge but it will also be a mental one, something I am starting to think more about as race day approaches and we only have a limited amount of runs left.
Today we had our 17 mile outing, in my mind this is a significant mental point in our training since we only have 18 and 20 runs after this, and it was rough! I don’t think I ever realized how far seventeen miles can be feel or feel. I know that we still 9 miles away from the full length marathon but its good to have this training under our belt.
The details are certainly not record breaking but I feel good about it. We went out to the 8.5 turn around point in 1:06:40 (7:50 pace) and completed the 17 miles in 2:15:11 (7:57 pace). On the way back I had a 8:24 mile which I think really threw me off as far as timing goes. I had been running with Kelly since the turn around point, when Glenn turn onto chase mode and left us behind, but with about 3 miles left I thought I had enough to pick it up a notch. My right foot arch was bugging me a little bit but didn’t think much of it. The pain increased with about 2.5 miles left and running on my own I lost track of the time. With about a mile left, Kelly came back and we finished a strong last mile at 7:51. Good finish for this distance.
Today my foot is still sore which is something that I am going to have to research a little bit before next week’s run. Can I exercise my flat feet to give them some strength to avoid this pain at the end of the long runs? On another topic, I learned when getting into this kind of distance running, I need to eat a couple of gels not just the one like I have done in the past. So the adventure continues today and we are moving forward.
