21.5 miles amidst a marathon

This morning there was a marathon and ultramarathon in Sacramento called Run the River. As my marathon is in 3 weeks, this is the weekend to do your longest training run.

Jenn and I met up with some of her group members at the 22 mile marker – the race counts down the markers till 0. I didn’t have anyone my pace to run with, so I did my own thing, 9/1 pattern.

I took it really easy. I was just cruising, not pushing. When I had to stop for the bathroom… 4 times… no big! When I had rocks in my shoes, no prob, stop and dump them out! When I came across a buddy hurting, I walked with her for a while and gave her moral support (and advice that yes, she should take the tylenol.) When I saw a girl all by herself struggling, I ran and then walked with her and chatted.

In other words, I wasn’t in a hurry to get it done. I was relaxed. And for the first 12/13 miles, it was actually pretty fun! The weather was PERFECT – sunny but cold, even as it became noontime. But I have to admit, my body just doesn’t like going more than 15. It’s kind of like OH HELLLLL NO. And although I keep on truckin’, my “cruising” speed gets increasingly slower. With no effort at all, I was keeping 10:45 on my running intervals, up to mile 13. That’s not a crazy fast pace for me. After 15 it started getting over 11. After that it was 11:45 and sometimes higher.

I’m not really trippin’ on it, because it doesn’t really matter my speed. It just reaffirms my plan to focus more of speed and endurance in 10k and half marathons next year. Me and the marathon are not BFFs.

Anyways, I was surprised to find the finish line before the markers counted down to 0, so I ended up clocking 21.5 miles (and did not go down the finish chute). 21.5 is plenty, and a good last major training run. Afterwards they kept trying to give me a medal but I turned them all down, of course! Can’t get a medal for a race I only did 4/5ths of! But, as you’ll see below, I did not turn them down when they offered me chili and cornbread! Nice to have lunch on them!

Now it’s time to relax and go to girls night tonight. Aaaaaah. Looking forward to taper!