You guys!!! I ran 20 miles and I didn’t die!!

It was actually a great run! I have to thank my Slow Runners Club peeps for suggesting to try out short run/walk intervals. I normally use run/jog intervals or just run. When I tried doing the run/walk thing a few years ago I would get to a point (usually around 10k) where the running segments got slower and slower until I couldn’t make my legs start running again after the walk breaks. Or I would try incorporating the run/walk too late into the run instead of starting right from the beginning.

Anyways, I decided to go with :30/:30 intervals. I figured that after how bad the last 2 long runs went, it certainly couldn’t be any worse! I also had come to the conclusion that if I couldn’t run the 20 miles I was going to swap out my marathon registration for the half. Not to say that might not still happen (depending – of course – on how my tummy situation is on race day), but for now I have no worries. After the 20 mile run, I am confident that I can run a marathon! And nothing can/will take that feeling, that knowledge, away!

I somehow managed to wake up before the alarm – thanks Lucy for having to go out an hour earlier than usual ;)

After coming back in from Lucy’s walk I finished charging my phone and my Garmin, drank 2 cups of coffee and took a vitamin. Did the bathroom thing, then got dressed and took an energy gel. I was out the door at 8:30am. I opted for a little extra cushioning so I wore the Brooks Ghost 6’s. I think it was a good choice!

I only had to stop one time and it wasn’t for the bathroom!! Lol!! It was right at mile 1 I had to run back in the house to ditch my new fuel belt. It was just too heavy and too big, and unfortunately it will not work L So I dropped that off and grabbed the arm phone holder thingie and in less than a minute, was back out.

I was planning on doing a few loops around my subdivision before heading out onto a route I mapped out, but I ended up doing the entire run in 1-mile loops around my house. I think I was just nervous that as soon as I got too far away from home, that “urge” would hit and ruin my run (again). I don’t know if it was a mental thing or not but I had no tummy issues the entire time. None. Maybe the poop gods finally decided to take mercy on me ;)

And not only that, the weather was perfect too. It was mid 60s with a light rain. I think that played a large part in my not needing any water/fuel for most of the run. I wasn’t really worried about it since I was never more than 1 mile away from grabbing some water or a gel, but I never had to stop. I did get really thirsty around mile 17, so I texted my hubby and he brought me out a 10-ounce bottle of water which I sipped on during that mile, then as I rounded back by the house I threw it by the front door. Another bonus of sticking close to home!

The last 3 miles were spent praying that my Garmin battery wouldn’t die. I guess that using the Run/Walk setting takes a MAJOR toll on the battery, because it had only been about 3 hours and was fully charged when I started. I have the 15 which is supposed to have an 8+ hour battery life. Luckily though, it did last. It died right after I finished and took a picture of it! Ha!

I will definitely use the :30/:30 intervals from now on for long runs, and for the marathon itself. I had a great run, no pain, and only a little soreness later that night. I was able to run another 3 miles the next day (yesterday) feeling fresh!

The only thing I will do differently for my next long run is to use a timer (i.e., Gymboss) instead of setting the Garmin and Runmeter for intervals. Between the Garmin beeping every 30 seconds, and listening to the app (Runmeter) saying “Run” “Walk” every 30 seconds, this was the noisiest run ever! Lol! I found an app called “Seconds” that I played with yesterday and I think it will work. It just does a short beep every 30 seconds, and you can set it for however many times you want to use it.

Ok, enough rambling. Here’s how the last 2 weeks of training looked:

Ok, I think I’ve gone on long enough. How’s that for a comeback post?!