Sunday, October 26, 2008

23.1 Mile Long Run - Done! Begin the Taper!



Today I ran my 22 miler - which became a 23 miler! Conditions for the run couldn't have been better. At 5:30 am, when I stepped outside to begin, the temperature was in the upper 50's - low 60's with a breeze. Even after the sun came up, the temperature felt cool.

Even though the sky was clear, the Garmin seemed to take forever to lock onto satellites. Once obtained, I headed out. My plan was to do my Lockwood "loop" 3 times - stopping after the first 2 to refill my water and Clif Shots. My hope was to keep my pace as close to 11:30 min/mi as I could by running 1 mile and walking 30 seconds. This was a bit ambitions for my long run but I felt good and the weather was good. The first mile came in at about 11:30, and my heart rate was in the right zone averaging 141 bpm. I continued on in the cool darkness with mile 2 in 11:52 and mile 3 in 11:40 min. My AHR was 146 and 149. Listening to my heartrate - I couldn't afford to push the pace or I would run out of gas - so I settled into this pace just under 12 min/mi and hoped I could finish close to 12 min/mi in the end. My heart rate stayed under 150 bpm for the first 10 miles of the run.

At mile 6.4, for no apparent reason, my Garmin lost satellite - not just for a min or so, but until I passed what I thought was the 8 mile mark or so. I lost almost 2 miles - so my mileage and pace were going to be off for the rest of the run. I reverted to taking my walking breaks at every 12 min mark (run 11:30 min walk 30 sec) and would try to keep my pace moving by feel.

I completed my 2nd Lockwood loop at 3:05 - about 15.2 miles into my run. After refilling the water bottles, grabbing my sunglasses and grabbing a couple more Clif Shots, I headed back out into the bright, cool sunshine.

At about mile 17, I felt amazing for about a mile. Why does that happen and why is it so short lived? It is an odd thing. I got a brief burst of energy, my pace picked up a bit and felt comfortable. Unfortunately, it only lasted about a mile. After the burst, my feet started to ache a bit and the distance and time began to weigh on me a bit. Still, I felt ok and hit mile 20 at just over 4 hours into the run. Judging from where I was, I knew I had another 45 min or so left - so I pressed on. I was also about a half a mile away from my turnaround point which pointed me home.

For the last two miles, I changed my strategy and ran 5 minutes and walked 1 minute for the rest of the time - focusing on trying to keep my pace up. I focused hard on trying to keep my form relaxed, shoulders back and relaxed, back straight, legs relaxed - but I was pretty tired. About a quarter mile from the house, I could feel my left calf begin to cramp - thank goodness I was almost done.

I finished in front of my house with a strong push and walked for a few minutes before heading into the house. DONE!!!

Since my Garmin was thrown off for losing the satellite coverage, I used Mapmyrun to figure out how far I really ran. I ran a total of 23.1 miles! The final talley:

23.1 miles
4:42:47 / 12:15 min/mile (faster than previous 19 and 20 milers)
AHR 149, MHR 166
2400 calories burned (according to Buckeyeoutdoors)
6 Clif Shots, 58 oz of water
Ice bath afterwards
Beginning temp: 59 deg F
Ending tem: 67 deg F

I am now officially tapering for San Antonio!!

8 comments:

Road Warrior said...

congratulations, Chris! Enjoy the taper... You deserve it!

Rachel said...

Congrats Chris!!! I have my 24 mi run next weekend, my last before my fall marathon. Take it easy these next few weeks and even in Texas...you'll need it for GOOFY!

Maddy said...

Amazing job on your run today!

Enjoy your well-deserved taper!

ShirleyPerly said...

What a difference a cool day makes! Nice job out there and glad the calf cramp showed up when you were nearly done. Enjoy your taper.

lizzie lee said...

Congrats... I thought of you during the 20-miler... You did great and now enjoy tapering... I don't get mad for it, I get glad... The only thing of your list I sure cannot do is the Ice Bath...Not a chance!!!!!

talk to you soon
lizzie

Susan said...

OMG! You kicked butt! You are going to show Texas how Florida does it! :)

Petraruns said...

That's fantastic! I hope that gave you lots of confidence - now go and enjoy that taper

Tammy said...

Wow great job on the training.. You'll do great on the Marathon I just know it I'm soooo excited. Rest up, sleep, stay healthy