Another 20 mile run for my log book

Pushed out another 20 mile run yesterday as part of my training plan for the Marine Corp Marathon (5 weeks to go).  My plan has been to put in at least three 20 milers, along with a couple of 18’ers, the intent being to build up and solidify my endurance.  So far I have all of my 18’ers in and two of my 20 milers – one to go.

I’ve had a long debate with myself about doing 20 mile runs (risk of injury) and asked about it on various runners forums. I asked if doing 16 miles followed by 5 the next day would yield the same benefit as doing a 20 mile run, and the prevailing thought was that doing the 20 (more or perhaps just a little bit less) was better from an endurance training perspective. The 16/5 routine appears to apply mostly to those training plans that involve A LOT of weekly miles and running 6 days per week. I’m running between 4 and 5 days per week and am limiting myself to no more than 45 miles per week – basically a nod to trying to not injure myself. As it is I’m fighting off some minor issues and I’m trying to not aggravate things.

Overall it was a great run – I ran it very conservatively, watching my fuel intake and hydration. I experimented with running with bananas, which I’ll expand on in a separate post. But I have to admit that at the end of my run I was really wondering if I had another 6 miles left in me… and to be brutally honest, yesterday I did not.

As it was, the trail that I ran on (Washington and Old Dominion Trail) intersects with roads from time to time, and although traffic is very considerate to runners and bikers that are crossing, I always come to a stop before crossing because I want to make sure that the cars/trucks are going to stop for me….  And sure enough, at mile 19.90 I had to cross a road  – I came to a stop, the driver waved me across, and it took all I had to get moving again. It required an incredible force of will to make myself start running again. For a moment I thought that the driver was going to get impatient with me and run me over.  Interestingly enough, prior to having to stop, I was grinding out that last mile kind of ok. I wasn’t a figure of elegance in motion, but I was running, perhaps somewhere between a 9:30-10:00 m/m pace. But once I stopped at that crossing, my body was not wanting to move again. But I did, and as soon as my mileage tracker said “20 miles” in my ear, I stopped in my tracks. I seriously did not think that I had another step left in me. And thus my concern.

All things being equal, I recovered pretty quick –I walked around a bit, got in my truck, went through a burger drive through for a couple of cheese burgers (yum), went home and took my dog for a mile walk, showered, a bit more food, and a nap. Then another mile and a half walk with the dog. My feet hurt from pounding the pavement and I’m a little stiff, but overall I feel pretty good.

But still, I have that nagging doubt now… can I finish the marathon?

I remember having the same thoughts two years ago for my first marathon, especially since I really struggled through my training. Two years ago I was not able to completely run a 20 mile distance; on my two attempts I had to walk at least 2 miles each time. On top of that I was struggling with cramping issues. Knock on wood, this year I have done substantially better on my long runs and have not experienced any cramping issues. I feel like I am in better shape, so why the doubts?

5 weeks to the MCM !!!

A tough 20 miles capping a 45 mile week

Today’s 20 miler capped a 45 mile week for me, 13 miles more than last week.  Oddly enough I did this to myself on purpose in order to push myself beyond my normal comfort zone.  I also realize that 45 miles is chump change for a lot of marathoner’s but as the saying goes, to each their own ability… 

I ran on the C&O Trail again, starting right at sunrise.  It was a little gloomy under the trees without the sunlight, but things brightened up quickly.  Within my first couple of miles I came within 10 feet of a deer that was standing right on the edge of the path. I slowed to a walk so that I wouldn’t spook it any more than I was going to and hoped to take a picture, but she quietly slipped back into the forest and out of sight.  It’s kind of amazing how easily they can disappear amongst the trees.

I was also running with my heart monitor (and I’ll have a separate post on this) and my intent was to keep my heart rate within my “burn and churn” range between 125 and 143 bpm, and I pretty much did.  My average HR was 131 with a max HR of 143. I was hoping that if I ran within “the limits” that I would feel strong in the last few miles, but possibly because this was a really hard run week, I didn’t. The last 3 miles were really, really hard! On top of that, my feet were starting to hurt. The trail is basically crushed rock and I sought to run along the edges that were a bit softer and had more soil than rock content.  In some places I was able to run on the sort-of low grass. But with little recent rain the ground was very hard, and boy did I feel it.

Another by-product of getting tired is sloppy running and posture failure. As I got tired, particularly as I was entering mile 16, I noticed that my footfalls were flatter and I felt that I was pounding the ground vs stepping through. I would try to adjust my stride and body posture, but my legs were simply tired – I was running out of juice. As I got tired and failed to maintain my posture and form, my knee’s started to bother me. In addition, I could feel my that hamstrings were tightening and I felt like I was edging ever so close to cramping. I sucked down another Gu at mile 17 and I sipped my water/Gatorade mix throughout. Interestingly enough, between thorough miles 16 and 18 my HR was fairly nominal (mid 130’s), but as I got to mile 19 my HR started popping into the 140’s. I found that by managing my breathing I was able to manage my HR some, but obviously I was reaching a point of fatigue. I should also mention that it was getting warm (mid 70's) and about a 90% humidity. I was dripping sweat and my shirt and shorts were soaked. The good news is that I didn’t cramp and I finished my run successfully with a nice 9:30m/m pace average. Of interest to me is that last weeks 18 miler average pace was 9:00m/m, on a week that I only logged 33 miles. Obviously I was tired from the start for this 20 miler.

Earlier in the week I had a marvelous (and hard) 10 mile run around DC – across the Key bridge, along the Potomac all the way around East Potomac Park and then back across the Memorial bridge. It was a good run and the weather was great.

8 weeks to the MCM !!   Next week is a “down” week with my longest run closer to 10 miles. I am looking forward to that!