Saturday, September 15, 2007

Take 20, part II

Went better than my first 20 miler two weeeks ago. First, I want to take the time to thank Jacob's cousin's mother-in-law (even though she'll never read this) who has run several marathons (including Boston) for recommending that I run 2-3 20 mile long runs. My schedule didn't call for it but I am glad I did it. Definitely not as sore this time around either. This run did a lot for my confidence.

I left the house around 7 am to head towards the lakefront and dang it was cold! 43 degrees, I had to break out the gloves. A little chilly for just walking around but great running weather! The second song on the ipod happened to be "Long Trip Alone" by Dierks Bently. Yes, it was going to be...but no problem, I've done it before.

The run went smoothly with the exception of every single running group being on the path this morning. There is a big Ready to Run 20 mile "race" tomorrow that has 3,000 CARA runners using the entire lakefront for 5 hours so everyone else tried to get their run in today. The narrow paths made it a bit tricky maneuvering around running groups, bikers, and walkers but it is just prep for the big day when there will be 40,000 runners. I would have done the race but they were charging $45. No thank you, I can run by myself for free! As usual I started to feel the aches and pains around mile 15 as I was headed up and over that damn North Beach bridge. But I was keeping a slightly faster/hopefully close to race day pace on this run. Jacob ran from our place and found me with 1 1/2 miles left in my run so that was nice. It was pretty much around the time I started slowing down due to my hips yelling at me! But since his legs were fresh he wasn't slowing so I kept up my pace until the end. Yeah!

I didn't stop my watch during any of my water or gu breaks and I finished the run in 3 hours and 10 min. If I could do a happy dance I would but that hurts too much right now. Instead I'll just dance from the waist up :) I am on target to finish the marathon in just over 4 hours...woo woo!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Congrats on a what sounds like a great 20 miler and in a great time. Your sub 4:00 marathon is so yours!

Marcy said...

Sweet job!!! I know about the chilly temps. Totally stinky! It's like someone just flipped the switch and now I want the heat on, when just last week I was sweating my butt off LOL

Bill Carter said...

Awesome run. Race specific training will do two things. First, it gives you the physical preparation you need to have a great marathon...and you will. Second, it gives you the mental training (read.. confidence) to know you can do it. You deserve a happy dance after a run like that.
Congrats,
Bill

Andria said...

Wow! Great job on the 20 miles. How funny that song came up. Those shuffles are so smart :) Do the dance even if it hurts. Think of it as a stretch... very deserved.

RunToTheFinish said...

Crack me up, I feel the same way about paying for most races!

I wish someone had encouraged me to do more 20 milers before my first marathon, I will definitely be doing that next time around.