Yesterday morning, I was determined to do my first twenty miler of the fall. After being a bit of a slacker about my workouts, I was anxious about how it would go. I got up super early (okay, 5:45, but it felt early) and left for Howe at around 7.
I got out on the Parkway around 7:20, with the sun just up and clouds still covering the sky. I wore my glasses instead of sunglasses, which was a bummer when it was sunny by mile 5 or so. But the air was crisp, and I actually felt great. I started out at a good clip, and only slowed when I ran into someone I knew from the gym and CIM training last year, and ran with her for a few miles.
I was ecstatic throughout the run. I felt great, the miles flew by, and I generllay didn't feel as worn down as I have in previous weeks. It helped to be on a familiar part of the Parkway (after being confused in Folsom last week), and it helped that the weather cooperated.
I started to feel pretty crummy around mile 18. Perhaps it was the fact that I planned my Gu intake wrong: 6 miles, 12 miles, and 18 miles? What was I thinking? I ended up skipping the last Gu, because it seemed pointless by then. Perhaps, it was the fact that I jumped from 16 to 20 without doing 18 in the middle. Or, perhaps it is just that 20 miles is really f###### far! Who knows!
But the bottom line is, I did 20 miles, in 3:15 (or 9:50 average overall), which is a solid start for my high mileage training. I'll set goals for my next set of long runs, but for now I'll take comfort in the fact that I still can run that far without keeling over.
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