20 Miles, what, WHAT!!?!

Holy crap Thunder Road Marathon is less than 3 weeks away!!! 

I think I am supposed to start tapering, but since I have never really had a plan, I think I will stick to running whenever I am in the mood, for however long I feel like.  I did my first 20 mile run on Saturday, and I could not be more excited for my marathon!  I was really nervous after I did my 18 mile run because I was having so many stomach issues, but Saturday could not have been a better day.  I had some good friends in town for the weekend, and it was really difficult to be disciplined the night beforehand since everyone wanted to stay up late and drink.  But I was going to get up at 5:30 and do my 20 mile run, and that is exactly what I did. 

Run For Your Life was hosting a preview run, featuring the second half of the Thunder Road marathon course, so I joined the group 4 1/2 miles into my run, and running with a group makes long runs so by so much more quickly.  Throughout the course of my run, I met 2 interesting guys that had some great training tips and inspiring comments.  The first guy I met was in his mid 60s and had run at least 5 marathons that year!  He usually runs about 3:40, which is what I was secretly hoping to run.  At one point during my run, I checked my watch and we were running 8:15 minute miles... I had no idea we were running so fast!  The second guy I met was an executive coach who had also done several marathons.  I expressed how nervous I was about my race and he assured me that I was prepared and would be able to finish the marathon.  He pointed out that if I pushed too hard, it might be hard to PR on my second race.  He suggested that my first goal for the marathon was to have several interesting conversations during the race, rather than worry about time.  Although I really like his idea, I think that I will still shoot for running under 4 hours.

This was my second run using Honey Stingers, and I have been really happy with them.  They are much easier to eat, and I feel like I am getting enough energy from them.  This is also my second long run without drinking coffee beforehand.  I had thought that I was running better with caffeine, but I think I might have been full of crap before.  I think that I will try to keep running without drinking coffee.  It's not like I am addicted or anything!

18 Miler... Success!

I completed my first 18 miler last Saturday!  I was extremely nervous about being able to run this far, because I attempted to do an 18-er 2 weekends previous at McMullen Creek, but cut it short at 12 miles because I was running like 9:30 pace, and probably doing more harm than good.  I think that that run was so painful, because although it is a beautiful greenway, it can be extremely boring running on a flat course by yourself.  The worst part about McMullen (although to some, it might be the best part) is that there is a marker for every quarter mile.  I anticipate every quarter mile, and do math equations in my head, as to how much farther I have to go on this dreadful run... only .25 into a 16 miler... that must mean I am 1/64th done... eek!

I was also worried about how I would stay fueled on my long run.  Since Gu is the most disgusting condiment (yes, I consider this a condiment) on the face of the earth, I decided to try a more natural energy fuel, and our runner friend Catlin suggested Honey Stingers.  The Gold flavor is basically straight honey, which is exactly what marathoners used to use before all of the artificial fuels were developed.  So what about water/gatorade?

By a lucky coincidence, the Dowd YMCA 1/2 Marathon was also taking place on Saturday morning.  The race starts and finishes exactly 2.5 miles from our house, which would be a perfect way to get an 18 miler in!  I timed it perfectly.  I missed the start of the race by about 5 minutes, so I was playing catch-up for the first 2 miles.  I kept getting suck at intersections that had been closed during the race, so police were letting all of the traffic clear up, which is why it took so long to finally catch up to the runners. 

Stuffing my face with a Honey Stinger!

I had bandited races before, but I felt really guilty about banditing such a long distance race, drinking their Gatorade and water and sneaking in their photos, but the motivation from getting to pass people during the entire race (since I started late), and having people along the course cheer for me, overcame my guilt pretty quickly.  I was cruising at a nice, steady pace and wasn't looking at my watch every quarter mile, dreading the next couple hours.

Only after I broke off from the runners and started my journey home, did I start feeling the pain.  I was having some serious stomach pain, and after I finished my run, I was not regulating my body temperature very well, and I could not get warm until I was suddenly soaked with sweat and freezing again.  I finally got my body under control and rode up to Durham to watch an old runner friend from high school get married... congrats Candy!

I guess that means I only have 8 miles to go.  Yikes!