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.