A Tale of Two Twenty Milers

I did my second and final 20 miler a couple of weekends ago. My first one suckkkkked, so I really wanted to make sure that the second one felt strong. Despite knowing that I was running on very tired legs for the first one, I started to really doubt my abilities and my goal for the marathon. There's nothing worse than a marathon runner in peak mileage filled with self doubt. Hello spiral.

On paper, the runs look identical. The first, August 25 started about 6:15 a.m. I ran with 3 other running friends, all of which who are training for TCM. We ran 3:26:22 for an average pace of 10:19. The second, completed September 16, was ran with one of the running friends fro the initial group, we started at 6:10 a.m. and ran 3:26:30 for an average pace of 10:19.

Yet the second run was light years better then the first.

During the first run, I did all the wrong things I could possibly do. To start, I wasn't super vocal when the group started off too fast. I was super swept up in running the loop for the first time, and all the energy and excitement. By the time I noticed 5 or 6 10 or sub 10 minute miles, it was probably too late. Because we had a larger group, we ended up stopping. A lot. Bathroom stops, water stops, emergency bathroom stops, emergency gas station fuel stops. So many stops. We ended up with an overall time, including stops of around 4 hours. Uff da.

In addition to all of this, again, I was so swept up in the fun and excitement that I wasn't diligent about my fueling. Derp. I thought I'd try to take my gels every 5 miles instead of 4 like I typically do. Why? Who the hell knows. Maybe I was trying to see if I could run through an epic bonk fest. My GU consumption was really sporadic, and I felt really really hungry for most of the run. About the time I realized I needed my final GU was in the last two miles and I had convinced myself that it wouldn't kick in before I was done so it was dumb to waste the $1.50 for nothing. Thank goodness my running buddy Jessica had some sport beans she was willing to share. I positive split that long run like a BOSS.

My second run, I aimed to do everything that I could control well. I made myself a meal for supper that should be friendly toward my stomach the next day. I hydrated like a champ. I packed 4 Gus and had a clear plan of fueling attack. Melissa and I started super early, although with as humid as it was, we probably could've started at 5:30 a.m.--barf. She was okay with starting out really slowly and we eased into the running in 10:30 minute miles to start. Ahhhh. She forgot her fuel, so we derailed our route plan and did two out and backs to our vehicles so she could get her skratch, much needed on a hot humid day. We kept things super easy, we chatted, we kept our bathroom and water stops to a minimum, GU'd on the run and just kept things moving. My legs never felt good, but this 20 miler was at the end of my highest mileage week ever, so I expected to be doing it on tired, worn out legs. I was prepared.

To be honest, I was a little annoyed to see that this run was slower than the first. But it was 8 seconds, so who really cares. And how I felt on the second run, strong and in control, I would take any day.

So I guess this is just a really long winded way to say that sometimes the pace and time doesn't really tell the story of a run. And this was a good reminder of that.