The Longest Run is DONE!

It's all downhill from here.  I just completed 23 miles, taking some walk breaks, but overall at a strong pace and feeling pretty good.  If not for the winds, which were overwhelming at times, I think I would've fared even better.  But I accomplished 23 miles in about 3 hours and 40 minutes.

At the beginning of my training, I set my typical three event goals:

• The goal I can live with:  To finish the race.
• The goal that will make me happy:  To finish the race in under 5 hours.
• The goal that will be cause for celebration:  To finish the race in under 4 hours 30 minutes.

It looks like I am well on my way to celebration on event day.  Even though it was tough to do 23 today, I'm glad I tacked on the extra 3 miles rather than sticking to another 20 mile run -- as many marathon training plans advocate.  It gave me a little taste of feeling so beat up and tired that you don't want to take another step, but you do anyway.  I'll need this for the extra 3.2 miles on race day.

So the hard work is over.  I've put in my training, and I have a nice, restful (somewhat!) taper ahead of me.  I start to cut back my miles with the Lake George Half-Marathon this weekend.  I'm not saying it will be easy; it will just be a nice change of pace and a good trial for my fueling and hydration strategies.

Today I think I nailed the fueling.  I filled my CamelBak with Gatorade and brought a Clif Shot for about midway.  The only flaw was that I ran out of Gatorade at about mile 18.  However, if I supplement my hydration system with on-the-course Gatorade at the aid stations, that should work perfectly.

Another happy note -- Mama's Ice Cream in Burnt Hills is now OPEN!  My mid-week 10 milers are much easier motivation-wise, because instead of bringing my Gatorade, I pick up an Only 8 cone at the halfway point.  Yummy!  If you have never had Only 8 Frozen Yogurt, you need to try it.  It only has 8 all-natural ingredients and 32 calories per half-cup serving.  I estimate a small cone has about 100 calories.  I am totally obsessed.

Anyway, with less than a month left before the big day, I'm feeling pretty good about where I am and I'm ready to tackle the race!

The Runner's Toe Trilogy

Four out of 10 toenails are now black.  See the fun picture here...the second and third toes on each foot are now afflicted with the aesthetically icky, yet painless condition.

I had thought that getting new running shoes back in August would've cured this -- after all, that was my impetus for getting fitted for new shoes in the first place.  A solitary toenail had changed colors, so off I went to Fleet Feet for better kicks.  And that resolved the problem for a while.

Then you'll remember a few weeks ago I got it on another toe.  And now two more.  So something clearly was not right -- and I found myself loosening the shoelaces of my regular sneakers during the day because they felt tight around my feet.

I returned to Fleet Feet and, come to find out, my feet have grown a half-size since August when I was last fitted.  The explanation?  The constantly-swollen state of my marathon-trained feet are making my current shoes too small.  Which leads to more runner's toe.  So I got a new pair of shoes (the same ones I wear now, just a half size bigger) and tested them out on my run today (they were super comfy).  And that brings us to...

Today's Run

I had 14 miles on the agenda for today -- shorter than usual because this is a recovery week.  However, this was an excellent opportunity to test my pacing and fueling for the Lake George Half-Marathon in two weeks.  This race will be my "staging race" for the big day in May, to give me a feel for racing at a longer distance and a last chance to iron out the details.

I did a few things differently today.  First off, no iPod.  Many of you are probably like, "WHAAAAT???" but I did this for a couple of reasons.  Some of my upcoming races are official USA Track and Field events and do not allow headsets on the course.  The second reason was that I noticed over the past few weeks that I'm not really listening to my music anymore.  I'm zoning in on my pace, my form, and paying more attention to my running and less attention to the music.  Truthfully I can say I didn't miss having music and will probably continue to run without my music machine.

Secondly, I actually PACED myself today (novel concept, right?).  Even though I felt like I could maintain an 8:30 minutes per mile pace right off the bat, I forced myself to slow down to 9:00.  This way, I felt strong at the halfway point and most of the way through the last half.  I did slow down near the end though (more details on this in a sec), but completed the run with an average pace of 9:16 minutes per mile...AND finished the 13.1 miles of a half-marathon distance within two hours, so that will be my target time on race day.

As for the sluggishness over the last four miles of the run, I attribute that to my change in fueling today.  I am getting quite sick of Gatorade, and today the idea of it made me very nauseous.  So trying something new, I filled my hydration pack with plain water and brought only Clif Shot gels as fuel.  I think my body missed the electrolytes because, even though my cardio and my legs were still strong, I started to feel a little light-headed and walked a bit near the end. 

Next week, I am going to try adding diluted Gatorade to my hydration pack and only using one gel.  The second gel almost made me sick today.  What ISN'T going to turn my stomach????  It's also getting pretty warm out when I do my runs, so I'm going to add some ice cubes to the bladder of my hydration pack to keep my water cool.

I only have ONE MORE long run in my training plan before I begin to taper (which means cutting down my mileage slowly to allow my body to heal for the race).  The marathon seemed so far away when I started; it's hard to believe it's almost here!

20 Miles of Potty Mouth

Today was the monumental 20 miler, and it did not go as well as expected, for the following reasons:

1. Coming off of last week's excellent 18-mile run, I expected 20 to feel just as good.
2. Despite my reading otherwise in many, MANY different marathon training guides, I did not pace myself correctly in the first half of the run.  I went out way too fast because I was feeling good and was overconfident from last week's great run.
3. My negligence to research my routes' topographies finally bit me, and this route had more steep hills than all my other runs put together.
4. I forgot that last week's run followed a "recovery" week, and this week's run followed an 18-mile run.
5. The wind!  Maybe not a huge deal to the passerby, but those big wind gusts can be crushing to runners.  Especially at the end of the run.  And especially when that last part of the run is INTO the wind.

All complaining aside, I did finish faster than I expected.  And, even though the last 10 miles were hell on Earth and I had to use every mental trick to keep putting one foot in front of the other, my average pace was only 10 seconds per mile slower than when I did my awesome 18-mile run last week.  Who cares if I was dropping obscenities for an hour and a half straight?  Yes, I was swearing at the wind.  A lot.

On the plus side -- I had to buy a carabiner at the hardware store, so I planned my route so it went right by Aubuchon.  What better way to run an errand than on foot?  Even though the hardware dudes gave me some weird looks.  They were probably just jealous of my CamelBak.

By the way, does anyone reading this drive a red truck with a bumper sticker on the back?  This is like the third time this truck has passed by me while I'm running and laid on the horn like crazy.  If I know you, sorry for not waving back -- I can't get a good look at you to see who you are!  Or maybe it's just a very supportive person who doesn't know me at all!

So -- the 20-mile run is done, and while I finished it (and with a respectable time at that... just over 3 hours), I am determined to feel better running this distance.  After all, the marathon is 6.2 miles longer than this!  My next long run is in two weeks.  This week is another recovery week, ending with a 14-mile run, and then the following week I will do either 22 or 23 miles...I have not decided yet.  I will try to make that one the best run yet.  Because after that, the long runs are over and I have to rely on all the training I've done up until that point to serve me well on marathon day.

I'm also starting a new workout program to assist with my cross-training.  I attribute cross-training to the fact that I have not experienced a serious injury during this whole marathon training plan.  Anyway, the program I'm starting is called Rip:60 (you can take a look at it on http://www.rip60.com/).  By the way, this is the reason I needed the carabiner, in case you were wondering. 

The Rip:60 infomercial boasts that it's better than both P90X and Insanity...a statement that's gotten them in hot legal water with Beachbody.  As a lover of both P90X and Insanity, I'm eager to give it the true test and see how the thing holds up against my two favorite exercise programs.  Upon inspection of the DVDs and documentation, it's based on solid exercise and even more solid nutrition, so right away that's a good sign (no miracle pills or potions).  I'll let you know how it goes.