As the title might suggest, today's 18 miler was my best long run so far. In looking back at the day, I believe I might have found a winning formula.
It started at 0500 when the alarm went off. I got up, ate a bowl of oatmeal, and had a cup of coffee. After getting into my cold weather gear, I sat and relaxed while reading the newspaper. I sipped on some water prior to heading out the door. On my way to the Y, I ate a banana. I was hoping this breakfast would be what I needed.
I met Scott, Mike, and Chris at the Y at 0700. Chris came up with the route for today and it was a nice change. My goal for the run was to stay hydrated and make sure I fueled correctly. I took along 4 gels. I was planning on the gels at 5, 10, & 15 miles. Scott made sure I stuck with that and it paid off. I also took 2 endurolytes at each hour of running.
The run went AWESOME as far as I was concerned. I didn't ever feel I was needing to fuel or that I was going to crash at any time. My endurance felt good and although tired, my legs felt just as good. I actually felt like I could have ran all day (slight exaggeration).
Mike took a little detour but I believe he ended up with either 16 or 17. Good job Mike!!! Today must have been one of those days???
We finished the 18 miles in 2:56 about 9:17 pace. I'm going to chalk this up as a good run and try to remember all the things I felt like I did right for our 19 miler in 2 weeks. Next week is a much needed cut-back week for me.
Although at 1900 I am feeling kind of tired, I need to start mentally preparing for my 8 miler tomorrow. I'm hoping for a nice easy pace.
Scott... Great job!!! I definately couldn't be doing this without your knowledge of endurance training. Your advice is helping me every step of the way. And I am actually going to take some water on my 8 miler tomorrow. :)
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Lance,
You had a great run yesterday. There is no doubt in my mind that you will be successful on Jan 18. You have incredible strength for a relatively new runner. I'm sure I'll be tapping into some of that and leaning on you to keep me going...
Both of us are very fortunate to have had most of our long runs w/ the Burk's. Mike is the one who deserves the credit. You can't ask for any better marathon mentor than him. He has story after story of helping his friends through training and running their first marathon. Tom, his brother, is the same way. He is amazing as he will meet a stranger during a marathon and help them get to the finish line even though it may add a couple of hours to his time. They are a generous and unselfish family.
Looking forward to next Saturday's 12 miler on the Frostbite.
Scott
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