I did it! I ran my first 20 miler! Overall pace 8:08.
So we started at 5am at the Stake Center in SF. I thought we started rather fast (mile one and two were 8:27 and 7:57). I did loops when people stopped because I think the group stops too often and/or too long and I want to shorten the breaks to make the long training runs more like a race environment. I ended up running with Alison and Craig for quite a bit of the run. At Osborns (6 mile point) we met up with Gina and McKenzie, Pat Loss, and a fast couple from out of town. I had planned on doing some marathon pace miles after Harry's hill (a 1 mile hill), but these fast runners were right ahead of me, and Pat encouraged me, so I started my tempo portion and he and I caught up to them (7:13 mile for mile 8), then the uphill started and my pace slowed but I was able to hang on to the fast crew ok up to the top of Harry's (splits were rather slow though, 7:55 for mile 9 and 8:44 for mile 10). Mile 10 included some recovery jog. Then when we started downhill and I pushed my pace again through the Salem stake center (7:30 mile 11 and 7:05 mile 12). After this we slowed down a bit but kept to about 8:10 pace overall, with some faster and slower miles. At 18-19 miles I felt pretty tired and like I was hitting a wall, but Alison was a great motivator and encouragement. At the 20 mile mark I stopped and gave Alison a hug, I was so excited to have done it. Then we split and she headed for home and I headed for my car. On the last mile or so alone I got a funny image in my head like I was Forrest Gump and I was running like when he first run and his leg braces fell apart as he run and flew off him. Only I imagined that my legs were going to be the pieces falling off me, perhaps at the hip bone, perhaps at the knee. My legs were tired by the end! I guess this is what the 20 miler is for.
When I got home I filled my tub with all the ice in the house and cold water. I got in the tub and lined it with three plums, three fig newtons, and a bottle of water and told myself I couldn't get out of the tub until it was all gone. So that served two purposes. I forced myself to start refueling and I got my ice bath in. After a hot shower, I got into some jeans and when I tried to put my second leg on I fell onto the floor. While having a still damp foot may have had something to do with it, I couldn't help but to giggle at myself because my stiff legs probably are the main culprit for my clumsiness. So, I also took 800 mg of ibuprofen. I am hoping I can recover sufficiently for training next week. We'll see!
Side note, I am down 17 pounds from tax season and am only one pound away from a realistic weight, but I will try to lose throughout my training if I can because my ideal racing weight is probably still 16 pounds away. Every pound should help!
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