24....er 16.4 miles

This is the great place I do all my long runs...and even some short ones.

So yesterday was my scheduled 24 mile run. I was certainly nervous for this run, but I was also looking forward to finishing it and feeling like 2.2 miles more would be doable. Again, my awesome mother was meeting me at the trail to ride along with me for all of the 24 miles. (have I mentioned lately how awesome she is?!?!). So, we met at the trail around 7AM and started our run/ride. The plan was to run out in one direction for 6 miles; come back and stop at the car to refuel; run out the opposite direction for 6 miles and back to the car to equal 24 total. My mom decided that if we went out 8 miles, then we'd only have to go out 4 miles in the other direction. As soon as I started I could tell it wasn't going to be a good run. My mom says I psyched myself out from the start, but I don't know if I agree with that. I really was looking forward to finishing a training run so close to the distance of the marathon. Some days it's just not there though. We ran out 8 (a little over actually) and I was struggling before we even hit the turn around. We stopped briefly around mile 12 and I ate a banana and re-filled my water bottles with the water my mom had in her backpack.

 

 

During this break I told my mom that I was feeling very frustrated. I felt like it was mental because my body still felt OK, but I just really didn't think I could continue another 12 miles. Even before hitting 8 I started talking about dropping the run to 20 miles. Most marathon training programs only take you to 20 miles max and you do that 2-3 times. Prior to yesterday I had done 18 and 21 mile runs so I thought if it was "just" 20 it would be fine. We hit 15 miles and I had to stop. I got a shooting pain in my left leg and I certainly don't want to hurt myself. At this point I was struggling in my mind about whether or not I could make 5 more miles. This run had been my slowest long run yet. I was averaging well over a 14 min/mile and was getting slower by the minute. So, I made the decision to cut the run "short" (16.4 miles is not SHORT by any means, but when you plan 24 miles, 16.4 seems short)! My mom agreed to do another long run with me next weekend. Now, I'm getting advice from my runner friends. And, any of you who might read this blog and train for marathons I would love to hear your feedback as well.

Here's the question:
The long runs I've done (over the half marathon distance) include 15; 18; 21; 16. As of today I have 3 full weekends until the marathon and then the marathon is on the 4th weekend (so I'm a month out). I am planning to do 20 miles next weekend, which would give me another 20 in there, but would mean I would have 2 full weekends to taper/rest/recover prior to the marathon. From things I'm seeing this actually may not be smart. A month out from the marathon may not be the time to add in another long run. So, now I'm thinking perhaps I do more than the 7 that is scheduled, but not 20. So maybe another 15 or 18. Any advice anyone has would be greatly appreciated! :)

It's funny. I was feeling very bad yesterday. I told my mom I was going to title this post 24 mile FAIL and she told me I wasn't allowed. It actually didn't take me very long to actually feel totally fine with my decision to cut the run short. I was having a bad day. I wasn't feeling it from mile 1 and I was struggling through the whole thing. At mile 15 I started to feel actual pain and I'm still uncomfortable from it today. Obviously my body wasn't into it yesterday. If I can do 21...I WILL do 26.2 on race day. I believe the course is open for 7 hours. I completed 21 miles in 5 hours and 3 minutes. If I can maintain that same pace, I should finish the marathon in less than 6 hours and 30 minutes. When I registered for this race I had to put my estimated finishing time (very common with large races). I estimated 6:30. Now I'm just hoping to be under 7....but I really think I can do 6:30. Only time will tell!

And with that, I will leave you with one last thought: