Log #44: Huh... so THIS is what it's like!!!

Well, it finally happened. I ran 20 miles like it was no big deal.

I woke up with one goal today: Run 20 miles at a consistent, slow pace. I know that my biggest problem with training so far has been that I run WAY too fast in the beginning of long runs and end up dying at the end. Well, I was mentally prepared for 20 miles at an 8:45 pace and no faster.

Of course, that didn't end up happening. I started out slow... my first mile was an 8:41. Perfect. I felt awesome, my legs were loose, the weather was phenomenal, and my girlfriend was tailing me with water in the CamelPak. I felt magic in the air... well not really.

The next one was 8:36. Get this... I told my girlfriend, "We need to slow down." THAT'S how committed I was to the 8:45 pace. Mile 3 was an 8:49... a good pace. After that, I quit looking at the GPS and just ran for a while at what felt like a nice, smooth pace. Miles 4-7 were all done around an 8:30 pace... OOOOOPS!!!

I slowed down for the next few miles. 8:43, 8:46, 8:47. I was just feeling so fantastic that I didn't even worry about the miles I had just run too quickly. I figured I'd just glide the rest of the way.

At this point I'd run 10 miles, and I felt perfect, so I decided to try for a negative split... running the second half of my run faster than the first. Mile 11 was an 8:37. I then followed with an 8:35, 8:40, and 8:31. I decided to just try and let my body dictate the right pace for me. After running for a while, you just get used to listening to the signs your body gives you as to how it's handling the stress. My breathing was fine, my heart rate felt ok, so I just kept running at my own pace.

Miles 15 and 16 were run at 8:38, then 8:22. By this point, I finally began to feel the miles in my legs. I had barely stopped at all by this point, and I realized that stopping made my legs ache. If I just kept moving, I actually felt better than when I stopped, so I just decided to keep my legs moving at all times. Even when I stopped at traffic lights, I'd jog around in circles.

With 4 miles left, I kept repeating the mantra, "Don't slow down." I wasn't in bad shape or anything, but after almost two and a half hours of running, your body just starts to protest a little. I kept chugging. 8:22, then 8:12.

My legs started to stiffen up, and my lungs were burning a tad. I knew that I needed to be able to run 20 miles and still feel like I could do 6 more if I had to, so I tried to let my body tell me how fast it could go. It told me 8:14.

The last mile wasn't so hard physically... I mean I was tired, and my legs hurt, but I wasn't as beat up as I've been on previous runs. The last mile of any workout is the hardest, it doesn't matter how long or short the run is. That last mile is just mentally trying, because all you can think about is a shower, food, and coffee. I was pushing myself to go all out on the last mile, and I ended up with an 8:00 mile... my marathon pace.

So... the first 10 miles took 1:26:30 to run, and the last 10 miles too 1:24:20... a negative split. I'm pretty sure my first ever on a 20 miler. My average pace was 8:32, a good 13 seconds per mile faster than what I needed to run today. I feel pretty good, too. Maybe the running Gods have finally decided to give me some love.

By the way, I'd like to take this opportunity to talk about the FIRST running method I'm using to train for this. I have never run this fast for this long, and I've been setting new PR's almost every week. The most incredible part is that I don't feel burned out, over trained, or even slightly injured. If anyone is thinking about trying FIRST... DO IT!!!