20 Miles -- A First!

Last Friday I accomplished something I never thought I could:  I ran 20 miles!  I am still in a state of disbelief, which is why it's taken me almost a week to post about it.  My time was 4:05 and change, which makes me think that maybe I can finish this race in less than six hours after all.

I'm not going to bore you with all of the details of the run, because, trust me, had it not been for my  iPod Shuffle and several podcasts of "The Mike Malloy Show," I think I would have fallen asleep on my feet.  The park is gorgeous, but you've gotta do quite a few loops in order to get the miles to add up to 20.

The best part of finishing that run was 1) finishing, and 2) feeling great afterward.  Thanks to the expert input of my running friends, I'm slowly mastering the art of fueling myself on the road, which has made all the difference.

Here's what works for me:

• Making sure that the day before my long run is a full rest day;
• taking two Immodium tablets before heading out the door (my stomach often reacts badly when running such long distances, no matter how long I wait after eating);
• doing a modified version of "Gallowalking," i.e., walking for one minute after finishing each mile;
• using those walk breaks to drink water (after each mile) and choke down 1/4 packet of Chocolate Outrage GU (every/other mile after mile 3);
• keeping a VERY conservative pace for at least the first half of my run; and, finally,
• knowing that this little guy is waiting for me to get home!

Last week's runs added up to a total of 41 miles (!), so this week is another "cutback" week.  I need to prepare for a 22-miler next Friday!  The good news is that this will be the last of the super-long runs until the race on July 31st.

So far this week, I've run 4, 7, and 6 (tempo).  I'm planning on doing 16 miles tomorrow and an easy  recovery run of a few miles on Saturday.  Oh, and I've been doing strength work faithfully this week, too; which, for me, is a major accomplishment!

It's just a little over four weeks until the marathon.  How did that happen?!!?  In one way, I can't wait, but in another, I want time to go by as slowly as possible, because by then, we will be that much closer to the end of summer vacation!