This is going to sound pretty stupid to most of you but for me this was a huge run. I HATE running long by myself. Absolutely hate it! But I knew that for me it was necessary to do at least one long training run solo to build my mental strength. 2 out of the 3 marathons I have raced I have ended up being all by myself and I know it has effected me so I just needed to prove to myself that I was capable of doing a long run alone. (the furthest I have ever ran alone before today was 15 mi.)
The thought of 20 solo overwhelmed me so I told myself I would just do at least 18. I woke up and my left foot was bothering me just walking around the house. Crap! Took some IB profen and just got going. Initially I wanted to wait until it was warmer out but I was wide awake and the anxiety of doing this all by myself was killing me so I just went for it. I promised myself that if my foot was still bothering me after my 2-mile warmup I would quit. I also planned on running 2 loops around my house so it would be easy to stop and call it a day at any time.
I will let the splits tell the rest of the story.
1 -8:09 for the warmup mile? what?
2 -7:46 Whoa!
3 -7:53
4 -8:09
5 -8:03
6 -8:05
7 -7:40
8 -7:40 (decided at this point that I wanted to add on to my first loop and make it an even 20. I knew my second loop was 8 miles and that I wouldn't want to add on at the end.)
9 -7:51
10 -8:02
11 -7:52
12 -7:49
13 -7:59 (starting the second loop after stopping for water. Legs felt way heavy after re-starting and I started to worry that I was falling a part. See how my mental toughness sucks!)
14 -7:50
15 -7:38 (convinced myself I should do 4 marathon tempo miles. I kept promising myself that if I ran fast until mile 18 I could slow down as much as I wanted or even walk home if I felt like it. Just push through 4 miles.)
16 -7:11
17 -7:20 (just keep pushing, just keep pushing)
18 -7:21
19 -7:51 (seriously felt like I slowed way down and was shocked I was still running sub-8.)
20 -7:53
21 -8:26
And that is how I ran my very first solo 20 miler. I should add that I did stop 3 times for 1-2 min each throughout the run. Once at mile 12 for my only water stop and to shed my hat and gloves. The 2nd time was at mile 14 to eat a Gu and decide whether or not I wanted to throw in the tempo. I tried the power bar gu that will be at Boston. Yuck not a fan! I did find them at Big Lots for 70 cents if anyone wants me to buy them some to try. And the last stop was a total cheat at mile 17.3 of the tempo. I stopped at the church quick to shed my jacket. I was dying of heat! There was a car at the church so I tried to get inside for water but no such luck. 1 water stop was probably not enough...I was way thirsty by the time I got home. Anyway re-started and pushed to the finish. 20.1 miles/7:48 pace. I really wish I wouldn't have stopped to shed my jacket during the last tempo mile but other than that I am really proud of myself. The route I ran is mostly completely flat with very gradual uphills and downhills throughout. Think Payson onion days 10k for 20 mi and that is basically what I ran.
Went to the gym and lifted weights for 30 minutes after. | 