Encouraging!
I had a long run scheduled for today and was more than a little nervous because of the problems I’ve been having with some of my runs recently. I was optimistic because there would be water stations, lots of people around and Assaf was going to run with me. Assaf actually started a while before the race began and ran 10 miles before meeting up with me for the race. He’s training for his first ultra-marathon, a 50 mile race at the end of November.
The run today was great – I felt strong and comfortable and am now certain that I’ll run a good marathon. I think that 3:10 will be out of reach, but unless something unexpected happens, I think I’ll do 3:20 without too much trouble. The scheduled race was 18 miles – 3 loops around Central Park. We started off nice and easy and did the first 3-4 miles at 8:15-8:30 pace. The course was pretty crowded and I stopped to go to the bathroom and we were just cruising comfortably along. We picked it up for the next 12 miles or so, doing just a tad faster than 8’s. That pace was pretty easy – I could talk and drink water and wasn’t breathing hard at all. At mile 16, we started going a bit faster and were probably running 7:30 or 7:40’s. We finished the 18 miles in 2:22 and then just kept going. We ran another 20 minutes, which I think took us to nearly 21 miles. I finished with a fair amount of energy and definitely could have cruised another 5 or 6 miles. That’s obviously much slower than 3:10, but I’m psyched because I felt good doing it.
I took John’s advice and drank a ton of water and gatorade. I drank at just about every water stop. I also ate a ton more than normal. I had my first gel about 45 minutes in and then consistently had another gel every 30-35 minutes. I never wore out. The only thing holding me back was my feet (which felt pretty heavy) and my hamstrings (which were just plain tired).
Tomorrow is a rest day and then I start my program with John. Now it’s nap-time, I think.
Run – October 8
Time: 2:42
Distance: ~21 miles
Average heart rate: 154
Course: 3 full Central Park loops + 3 miles on bridle path
Conditions: beautiful day, low-mid 60’s, sunny, no wind