I don’t know about you…

but I”m feeling 22…..

Miles, that is!
Today marks the highest mileage run of my training and the day I’ve been dreading for the last 16 weeks. Turns out there wasn’t as much to fear as I thought. I managed to get through all 22 miles as well as I could have possibly done. After “the 14 miles that will forever be known as the most miserable morning of my life” a few weeks ago I was seriously petrified to attempt anything as large as this. (And yes, I am still too embarrassed to fill you in on that terrible run.) Today was great though.

No bonks.
No walls.
No limbs falling off, though the same can’t be said for all my toenails. Those are expendable though.

Workout: 22 miles, about 3:53:30. Avg pace: I don’t know. My Garmin battery was dying so I only tracked 15 miles on it, then switched to my phone. I averaged 10:55/mile on the first 15 and 9:55/mile on the last 7. I have a thing for negative splits.

Here are my splits: 10:39, 11:24, 10:52, 10:38, 11:45, 10:29, 10:51, 10:57, 10:43, 11:23, 11:00, 10:51, 10:57, 10:32, 10:38, 9:12 (whoops! got a little ahead of myself there), 10:13, 10:14, 9:54, 9:48, 10:06, 9:38.

The last mile was, mentally, extremely difficult but my legs felt as good as I expected them to feel!

I approached this run a lot differently than I have any of my other long runs. Instead of a giant out and back (mostly) along the lake I did smaller loops near my apartment. In an effort to make it mimic the race I created a makeshift aid station in the lobby of my building. I had loads of prep work to do Friday night for it.

Those were the goods that I used this morning. I’ve been using a combination of Gu Chomps and Clif Shots on my long runs because a) I’ve had pretty good experiences with both of them and b) I get so bored of eating the same thing over and over. I usually switch back and forth every time I fuel. I didn’t end up using the Razz Shot. (And, in a surprise to myself, I really enjoy the Mocha one! I thought it would be gross, but it tastes like Hershey’s chocolate syrup. That I can get behind.)

I’ve also discovered the secret to the most delicious rehydration possible.

Cherry limeade Nuun is my new jam. I could drink this all the time and I’m even considering how it might pair with vodka. Kidding, kind of. 😉

This new system involved math (On a weekend?! Gross.) where I wrote down the approximate mileage for the aid stations in the first 22 miles of the marathon and told myself that that’s when I could stop at my mini aid station for water and gatorade if I needed it. There were lots of pen marks on my wrist but I sweat most of them away anyway.

Funny enough, thinking of it as 16 pit stops versus 22 miles made it a really relaxed run. I never had to run more than 2 miles before the aid station came up so the loops went by so quickly! And, truth be told, I only stopped 12 times and didn’t stop at all the last 5 miles because I knew I had enough energy to get me through 22. On race day I’m probably going to stop by every one; dehydration is not worth the risk!

My first pit stop post run should be obvious.

I stretched before going into the ice bath and man are my quads fatigued! The most difficult part of my day had to be squatting down to stretch without my legs giving out and not the run itself. I stretched, ice bathed, and napped, and now I’m spending the rest of the day sitting in compression gear and hoping I don’t have a case of DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness) because I signed up for the Bucktown 5K and agreed to help pace a friend. That was probably a questionable life choice. But then again, so are most of the choices I make.

My favorite part of this day is, hands down, the fact that I’m ravenous after my run and have been snacking all afternoon.

And what’s a nice long post without a little Star Wars humor? Enjoy your weekend everyone!