An Epic 20-miler

My friend Jim Lynch recently wrote a blog post entitled "Bad Training Runs are Good For You." I would never dispute his wisdom (he's run eight times as many marathons as I have, so I believe he knows his stuff). But speaking personally, I hate bad training runs. Today's 20-miler, however, was not one of them.

For the last several weeks, I've run my Saturday long runs with Runner's Edge of the Rockies' 4-hour (or 3:59:59) pace group. I dropped back from the 3:50 pace group after I just couldn't keep up with them for a goal-pace run. I told myself at the time that I just wasn't ready yet to stick with the faster group. But this morning, I decided it was time to try pushing myself again. I had 20 miles on my schedule, and I wanted to see if I could keep the faster pace for that distance.

I was successful.

I guess it helped that we were running the Highline Canal Trail today. Now normally, that's not my favorite trail for running very long distances. It's certainly easy--very flat, very soft, and with some decent shade in places. But I've gotten used to having a bit more variety in my weekly long runs, thanks to the wide variety of courses Coach David has mapped out. Uphills and downhills make for more interesting runs and, to my way of thinking, more effective training. But I think the ease of today's run was a big contributor to today's awesomeness.

Temperature was also a factor--it was nice and cool, even with a slight breeze for much of the run. Especially since we started nice and early. And, of course, the fact that I was running with my friends (at least for the first half) is always a big factor to the makings of a fantastic run.

It was also somewhat amusing to me that we started (and finished) the run in Cherry Hills Village. As I mentioned to the 3:50 pace group at our first aid station, we were running through "my Dad's neighborhood--and I mean that literally, as he was just elected Mayor of Cherry Hills Village!" It didn't occur to me until it was too late that I should have called him and told him to come down to that aid station, to greet the runners as they came by. Ah well, missed opportunities.

Anyway, back to my run. I think it was a combination of a good night's sleep, the challenge I'd set for myself of trying to keep up with the faster pace group, a solid breakfast, and the factors I mentioned above that led to me having such a fantastic run. I've reviewed my splits from today's run, and see that I stayed on pace pretty consistently throughout the whole time. I was even a good ten or 15 seconds faster on a few miles on the back half. I ran with folks from the group on the way out, but as people turned around the group got smaller and smaller until there were only 3 of us. Running with others makes it easier to stay on pace--indeed, sometimes we end up caught up in conversations and have to remind ourselves to slow down. But company definitely makes the miles go by quicker, and often feel easier.

At my turnaround point, however, I found myself alone. But I'd been feeling just fine for the first ten miles, and felt confident that I'd have no issues for the remaining ten. I still take walk breaks every mile, as I have done for my last seven marathons, although now I've shortened them to 0.05 miles (between 30 and 40 seconds). So I walked a bit, then ran at what felt like a comfortable pace for me. I didn't watchdog my Garmin, to make sure I was staying on pace; I just ran what felt right. When my watch would beep at me every mile, I was gratified to see that I was staying more or less on pace. In fact, my Garmin records that miles 15, 16, 17, 18, and 19 were all faster than 9 minute pace. And I wasn't feeling tired, or sore, or hungry, or dehydrated, or dizzy (I'd been struck by a very odd dizzy spell at the very start of a 16-mile run a few weeks back, which I attributed to poor breakfasting that morning). In short, for 19 miles (and especially starting at mile 15), I felt like a rock star.

The last mile, however, was less than fantastic. My right hamstring, which up until that time, had been just fine thank you very much, started to cramp up on me. It forced me to slow down, and I even threw in short walk breaks every quarter mile. Actually that's the second long run where my hammy has acted up towards the end. I've made an appointment for a massage tomorrow that I hope will clear up whatever the heck is going on there.

As I said at the start, I don't like "bad" training runs. Nothing makes me happier than having a really solid workout. And a really great 20-miler is just one of the best things that can happen.