Tale of Two 20-Milers

Once I set my training calendar for any marathon there are a few special runs that loom large in the later weeks of the schedule. There are a few races that I mentioned in my previous post and there are the 20-mile runs.

This year, the first run occurred on April 15 and the second two weeks later on April 29. The runs could not have gone any differently.

April 15

I had started to think about this run for over a week before it happened. I did not run the preceding week because of a conference in Omaha and some bad weather. On Sunday the 9th, I ran 13 miles and it kind of sucked.

I did run three other times during the week with no notable struggles or frustration, so there was some cause for optimism.

On Friday night, I made my first mistake. For some reason, I thought that if I ran the distance at a slower pace then what I ate for dinner would make little difference. I was wrong. That evening, as Jody and I walked around the grocery store thinking about what to have for dinner, we stopped by the fish fry station. What could go wrong?

On Saturday morning, the weather was nearly perfect. I loaded up my water belt with one bottle filled with water and the other filled with a diluted mixture of Gatorade and water. I also took my GUs. The first 15 miles were okay, but there was some discomfort in my left heal/achilles area. At just past the 15-mile mark, I crashed into the the wall.

My body ached. My stomach was not feeling 100%. I had no energy. I walked walked for about 1.5 miles and it was pretty clear that I did not drink enough water. Jody joined me for the final half of mile and basically dragged me to the "finish" line.

Pace for the first 20-miler. Notice the sudden drop-off in tempo near the end.

April 29

I had yet to run one good 20-mile run. A couple weeks after the disastrous fish fry incident run, I sought to right several wrongs. First, I prepared the night before like I should. No fish fry. We kept the meal as simple as possible with some carbs and protein. I believe we had some pasta, fish or chicken, a light side of vegetables, and some bread.

My second goal was to break up the 20-mile run into two manageable circles. The first half was a loop of about 12.5 miles and the second, smaller loop was about 8 miles. Halfway through, I intended to stop at the house for a very short break to use the restroom and fill up my water.

Route for second 20-miler. First loop indicated by black arrows; and the second loop indicated by green arrows.

The third goal was to run slower. Much slower. I wanted to run the entire route, so I tried to flush it from my head that I needed to keep up a certain, unrealistic pace. I had it in my mind to run the first half or more at no faster than a 12:00 min/mile pace. After those miles, if I felt good, I could pick up the pace a little but only if I felt okay. At no point, I told myself, should I come anywhere close to running at a 10:30 min/mile or faster pace.

Finally, I opted not to run with any Gatorade. From what I've read about long runs and nourishment during them, electrolytes are very important, so water is not enough. But Gatorade also has a lot of sugar that disagrees with my stomach on long runs. So I took a chance by leaving the Gatorade in the refrigerator. Instead, I took my Camel Pack that holds 50 oz. of water and loaded a small snack bag with some pretzels. These would give me a few additional carbs (besides the GUs that I had every 5-6 miles) and some salt to help retain water.

What a difference these changes made!

The two loops made the run mentally easier to manage. In the past, I have often become frustrated at the thought of how much further I have to go on these long runs and this can be as equally zapping of energy as lack of hydration. Also, the break in between the two loops gave me an opportunity to fill up on water so I did not have to worry about rationing water for the rest of the run. The loops also allowed Jody to run with me as I approached the house at the end of both loops (I'll explain how she knew where I was in another post). It is always awesome to see her when the miles start to accumulate and I need a bit of encouragement.

Here's the other kicker: I ran the second loop at a faster pace than the first loop simply because I felt like I could. It's not like I was pushing the pace so hard that my body was screaming at me to stop. Nope. I just ran in my comfort zone which was at about a 10:45 min/mile pace. This is even more surprising because of a nasty hill at the 17.7 mark that did not halt my momentum. 

Finally, as I approached the 20-mile mark, I still felt like I had gas in the tank. My legs and hips ached but were not screaming for me to stop. I easily ignored their grumblings.

As I made the final turn for home and saw Jody at about the 19.7 mark, I gave her a big smile and thumbs up. She started to run with me but after the watch chimed my twentieth mile, I shifted gears one last time and nearly sprinted to the 20.2 mark. I finally believed that I could have run 6 more miles. 

Pace for the second 20-mile run. The spike at about mile 13 is when I stopped at the house. Note the sudden burst of speed at the very end.

Talk about a mental hurdle that I needed to overcome. It took 15 weeks, but I was excited that I could run a sub-5:00 hour race in Green Bay.