The Run:
Running 20 miles this past weekend was no easy task. After the 14 miler last weekend, I knew that I wanted to see if I could mentally and physically get to 20 miles. So when I took off down the street at 6:30am, I wasn’t 100% sure I would attempt 20 miles. I did know that I wanted to try and add a little more elevation within my run with a short trail (.15 mile long) near the park and a steep street (.25 mile long) near the apartment. I was able to try both out around miles 5-8, taking multiple passes on both (trying to get more elevation).
From then on I meandered around the park track at a comfortable pace and then up the long pathway and back, circling back to the apartment at mile 18. At the apartment I quickly grabbed a sports drink and continued on to complete to the remaining two miles. The last two miles were difficult, surprisingly difficult. My body was feeling the stresses of the constant pounding.
There was a little “oh sh*t” in the last mile as I looked down at my Garmin Forerunner 25 and saw that I had one bar of battery left. So I achingly picked up the pace to be sure I finished with my watch still recording to post to Strava. If the watch would have cut off at 19.5 miles I would have been extremely disappointed, as you know if it didn’t record it didn’t happen.
Feelings:
I felt great up to about mile 16, then my ankles and feet were feeling the stress of all the constant pounding. I could feel aches that I imagine could lead to stress fractures if I continued this day after day, without proper rest. Mentally, I was ready to be finished because of the discomfort, but kept pushing myself to get to 20 miles. I was soaking wet because of the thick humidity and overcast weather. Chafing continued like last week so I’ll try to brainstorm and do research on how to prevent. I basically chafing from the built-in-underwear rubbing against my upper inner thigh. I’ll either cut the underwear out and wear compression shorts or not wear anything at all.
During Run Nutrition/Hydration:
When I took off I was carrying one 22oz bottle filled with water and two CLIF SHOT Gels wrap around the bottle with a rubber band (like the featured photo).
6-7 Miles: Around the 6th mile is where I ripped open the Citrus CLIF SHOT Energy Gel with 25mg of caffeine. Taking part of it over the next mile and washing it down with sips of water.
9 Miles: On my way back into the park I stopped by the rec area and filled my bottle with more water from the public water fountain. It was weirdly warm but tasted good enough to drink.
11-13 Miles: Once again around the 11th mile I filled up my bottle with the weirdly warm water and then started taking sips from the last gel that I had (Double Expresso CLIF SHOT Energy Gel).
15 Miles: Around this point I was drenched with sweat and was feeling the stress of the last 14 miles on my body. I filled up my bottle from another public water fountain.
18 Miles: I picked up a Vitaminwater Active bottle from my apartment to help me finish the remaining two miles.
Post Run Nutrition:
My post run nutrition consisted of a Simple Truth Organic chocolate coconut water and fruit smoothie made with plant based protein, chia seeds, frozen strawberries, and blueberries.
Rest of the Weekend:
After the run in the morning on Saturday, we cleaned up the apartment and then headed down to my dad’s house to spend the rest of the weekend there. I took it easy and just helped my Dad work on his boat the entire time and tried to rest my legs as much as I could. I was super stiff Sunday morning. My knees were physically sore and my IT bands seemed really tight. Even my run on Monday started out slower because it felt like my IT bands were catching on the side of my knee. Let the stretching commence.
-thebidon
