The Dreaded 20 miler

The 20 mile run. It leaps off the page of any marathon training schedule and stares you down. "How many 20s are you doing?" or "When is your 20 miler?" are common questions that inevitably come when you're training for a marathon. It's a run that needs to happen, but has the potential to suck at the same time.

Well I did mine last Sunday and it did indeed suck.

1. The weather: Thankfully, it wasn't snowing, sleeting, or raining on Sunday like it was on Saturday. My bestie did her 20 miler on Saturday and I got myself threw a few miles just by thinking, "look it's only cold and you're not dealing with the yuckiness that she did yesterday."

2. Timing: I usually like to start my long runs between 8 and 8:30 am. I don't know why, but at 8am on Sunday it was still below freezing and the frost buildup on my car kept me from venturing outside. So like a whimp I waiting inside until the temperature rose to 35 degrees which meant I didn't start running until 9:30am. Finishing up after 12:30pm SUCKED! At the end of my run I was still saying, "good morning" to people and they probably thought I was nuts.

3. I'm an idiot: There I said it. I'm still not running with much pace these days, but when I started my run on Sunday there was a guy just starting out on the trail. I don't know why I do it, but for some strange reason I tried to keep up with him. Okay, fine - I lied, I tried to pass him. The dude stopped running and turned back at four miles into the trail! As he ran by me he says, "have a good run."

Idiot! Idiot! Idiot! I went out way too fast for such a long run. My goal for my 20miler was to run 9:45 to 10:00 minute miles and I went out in 9:15, 9:10, 9:12, and 9:15. Stupid times four! I ignored my Garmin and just kept up with the guy. Those faster miles did indeed come back to haunt me during my later miles.

4. Running by myself: I know I just complained that I went out too fast because I was trying to keep up with someone else, but it would have been nice to had someone to run with for the entire 20 miles or at least someone to run with during those last four difficult miles. The hubs ran the last four miles with me last year, which was nice, but unfortunately he was out of town on Sunday. Maybe next year I'll actually join a running group!

5. Mental deficiencies: During the last four miles all I could think about was getting Chick-fil-A for lunch. Yes, on a Sunday. Anyone who has a CFA obsession knows that CFA is closed on Sunday! I didn't even realize it until I was driving past the CFA by my house. D'oh!

Post-run I napped and lounged on the couch for most of the day. My legs felt good and I was surprisingly happy post-run. However, on Monday morning I lost my phone (twice!), forgot to pack my toothbrush, and had the attention span of a gnat at work. Clearly that 20 miler got the best of my mental capabilities. Good thing I'm taking off from work on Monday, November 21st!