I'm not much for running over 2 hours most of the time. The bulk of my running is between 30-60 minutes of varying tempo. And much of that carries me through the season, with some 90 minute runs here and there. Even when I was training solely for the 70.3 distance (half marathon run), not much of my running went over 90 minutes. Ever. I looked at my running as a collective whole and took it at that. With a few runs at 1:45 to cover the 13.1 miles during training for myself to get over the mental block of running a half marathon. But recently I just had the itch to go long. No real plan or anything, but just a long run, so I just did it.
This year I had capped off a 13.5 miler back in March, but nothing over 11 since then. And most articles you'll read out there say to up your long run by 10% per week. And me being me, I completely ignored this fact. I wanted to run around 2.5 hours or so, and knew I could easily hold 9min/mi, but would just take it as it comes.
So I got on Garmin Connect and started plotting around my area to find some places to run to. I wanted some familiarity along with some new terrain. My loop around the lake I live near is my favorite 1:20-1:30 run, so I incorporated that into the run, and added in some fun. I've ridden my bike through the arboretum to get out south of Madison and hit some more hills. So I tacked that in as well, looping through and around the arb and lake Wingra, right near my wife's work.
Basically about 18.5 miles, depending on how I worked my way back towards Lake Monona and how my legs felt..
Here's how the day went:
I woke up around 5:30 and had my cup of coffee and a bagel. I looked in my drawer for my Gu packets to bring 2-3 with and found one. Damnit. Whatever. I run 90 minutes around the lake with no nutrition or water, what's another hour? I grabbed the Gu and was off.
Honestly, I felt great. Better than I imagined for the first 8 or so. Clicking off lots of low 8min/miles and feeling pretty fresh. Just over an hour into my run, I took down my Gu just to ensure fatigue didn't sneak up on me. Things kept going good, I had some good tunes to run to and I kept my stride short and easy. I didn't want to overstride and risk wearing my muscles down too quickly.
I worked my way through the arb and around Lake Wingra, back towards Lake Monona. I actually saw the Madison Mini Marathon going in the opposite direction a block away from me which was pretty cool and kept me motivated. Then back at Lake Monona, there was the MOWS (Madison Open Water Swim) event going on. So as I passed by the lake there, I was motivated again. But then mile 15 happened. My legs turned into concrete and I could feel myself breaking down.
I knew I could make it home, but would I damage myself? That was my biggest fear. So I slipped back and forth between 8 min and 9 min paces for the last 5k +. Nothing felt like it was cramping or going to give out, it was just a stiffness and fatigue. I'm thinking lack of water and electrolytes. I didn't feel hungry or anything like that, just needed something to keep my muscles firing.
I trotted in the final miles and was relatively happy. However I did wish I had had more nutrition with me. I do well on the bike, but not quite the same on the run.
Here's a link to my run
Fortunately for me, my in-laws were in town and when I got back my wife and mother-in-law were getting back from the Farmer's Market and we were headed to breakfast. So I got treated to a gigantic Southwest breakfast burrito. Perfect.
Thoughts about the long run are this. Don't fear them. Find a way to make them fun. Mix things up. Have some areas you're used to and some new. Running the same routes over and over can 1.) get boring and repetitive and 2.) Make the long runs feel longer. Especially when you think,"Ugh, I'm only HERE?!" If you're nervous, you can mix up the pace a little, slowing down for a mile every few to ensure you don't burn out early. There's a lot of schools of thought out there, just make sure you stay relaxed at all times. If you're mentally up to it, more ofthen than not, you are physically, too.
Dave
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