Last long run before the marathon

Three weeks to go to the Chicago Marathon and today was my last “long” run before the marathon.   Today’s run was 22 miles, which I did with a group from one of the running stores, Tortoise and Hare.  This was a pretty important run for me today – I had to be able to do it.  I had struggled through my last 20 mile run and had DNF’ed in the Milford 30K.  I had to be able to make today work - and I did.

Overall, it was a good run, averaging a 10:10 min/mile pace (3hr 43min overall) including a couple of rest breaks.  The temp at the start was in the low 50’s with a cloudless sky.  It was perfect weather.  The route was to be two 11 mile loops with most of it on dirt county roads with some modest hills. I felt very strong for the first 11 miles (the first loop), but started to feel tiredness in my legs almost as soon as we started the second loop.   I tried hard to keep on top of my nutrition (ShockBloks, Goo, Gatorade, and Endurolites), but I think I slipped on my intended schedule a bit.  

At about the midpoint of mile 17 I decided to walk a bit and let my running partner, a guy who had been running with me since the start, go on ahead.  After about a quarter mile of walking I was ready to hit it again, and worked towards catching up with my partner, who was pretty much just shuffling his way down the road.  Unfortunately, I was probably pushing too hard as I worked my way up and down the modest hills and wound up aggravating my right hamstring (which has been a pain in my ass for some time) bringing me to a full stop while I massaged and stretched it out.  I was pretty much forced to walk for a bit (probably a good ¾ of a mile) before starting to run again.

I’m not sure what the deal was/is with my hamstring.  I don’t know if it is a muscle pull situation, or if I was cramping (as in a heat cramp).  As soon as it started to hit hard, I gulped down another Goo, another Endurolite, and lots of Gatorade (good thing that I had my camel-back with me!).  I don’t know if that made a difference or not, but I did start to feel relief not long afterwards, so who knows….?

Getting going again was hard.  My legs were getting stiff and I really had to force myself to run.  I didn’t break any records running those last few miles – I pretty much short-stepped trotted my way back to our starting point, even walking up a couple of the hills. But I did it.  I was soooo glad to be done.

So, assuming that my 10:10 min/mile pace is realistic for Chicago, I’m probably looking at a 4hr30min time.   And I’ll be running for 45 minutes longer than I did today.  Do I have  (will I have) the juice to run that much longer?  I’m assuming that I will – I just can’t imagine not…

Three weeks to go!  Next week my longest run will be 12-13 miles, and the week after that,  a mere 8. That is going to feel so weird…  I’m already starting to think about what am I going to do after Chicago…