{"id":456,"date":"2008-08-19T04:25:50","date_gmt":"2008-08-19T09:25:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/?p=456"},"modified":"2008-08-18T17:26:46","modified_gmt":"2008-08-18T22:26:46","slug":"reflections-of-a-20-mile-run","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/2008\/reflections-of-a-20-mile-run\/","title":{"rendered":"Reflections of a 20 Mile Run"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n
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Image from stock.xchng<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

The first 20 miler maybe the toughest.<\/em> That was the topic of discussion at the end of the run as we all stood around recovering from a nice 21 mile run<\/a>.\u00a0 I was the novice in the group as this was my longest run ever and everyone else has several marathons already under their belt (with some impressive times to boot!) I think we decided that the first one might be the hardest, but they never really get easier.\u00a0 Not overly encouraging as we have 2 more 20 mile runs in the upcoming weeks.\u00a0 But their points were well taken At this distance it is easy to have a bad day and feel it.<\/em> Runs of this distance require a little more thought and preparation than an easy 10 miler.\u00a0 I plan to prepare well for all of my upcoming long runs!<\/p>\n

Preparation<\/strong> – We spent a pretty quiet evening at home on Friday night, eating Pasta and watching the Olympics. I can’t say I hydrated excessively, but felt pretty hydrated.\u00a0 I actually woke up Saturday morning with “pre-race jitters.” I hit the bathroom several times and ate a bagel with peanut butter and half a bowl of oatmeal.\u00a0 Then I hopped on my bike and rode the 2.75 miles to where we were meeting. It was a nice easy ride on a cool (low 60’s morning).<\/p>\n

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The Route<\/p><\/div>\n

Run Time<\/strong> – I loaded up my shorts with a package of cola flavoredClif Shot Blok<\/a> and off we went.\u00a0 The plan was to take a Shot Blok every 5K.\u00a0 I managed to do that and felt like that was a good mixture for most of the run. We actually did take the pace nice and slow as we started out.\u00a0 We had a group of about 10 runners which was a nice size.\u00a0 We started approximately at the 1.5 mile mark of the Twin Cities Marathon<\/a>. We followed the course pretty accurately hitting the official water-stop around mile 3 where I picked up some CLIF SHOT Energy Gel<\/a> of the Chocolate persuasion – they offered both Chocolate and Double Expresso. They did this for all the runners about a month ago<\/a>.<\/p>\n

We made some course deviations to throw in some soft trails but hit the hills along Minnehaha Parkway so we wouldn’t be surprised by them during the race. That was actually a good thing because I didn’t realize there would be any on that part of the course, so now I can plan for them. We hit them about 7 miles into our run which places them approximately in the 8-9 mile range.<\/p>\n

\"Pace<\/a>

Pace Chart<\/p><\/div>\n

Coming back from the turn around point I noticed on my Garmin that we were in my Marathon pace range (my goal is 7:15 so Marathon Pace runs would be between 7:30 and 7:00).\u00a0 The pace chart shows us hitting 7-flat for a brief moment of time in the 9 mile range.\u00a0 I wanted to stay with the group but also knew we had a long way to go still so I was willing to let them go, knowing eventually we’d catch up.\u00a0 I never really got gapped by the group and had someone to run with for most of the run, which was nice!<\/p>\n

The trails were quite crowded on our return run as many training groups were out there hitting the roads. On the return we “closed” the lakes – running around them on the opposite side so that we essentially ran around the entire thing. I started feeling bad when we got to Lake Calhoun, it had been about 5 miles since the last water stop and I was tired.\u00a0 I stopped to pee real quick and caught back up to the group at a water fountain.<\/p>\n

We then swung by the Marathon Water Stop at 17.25 already 1.25 miles farther than my longest run.\u00a0 I grabbed 2 cups of water, a cup of Powerade, and ate a Chocolate Gu (I didn’t eat the first one).\u00a0 I had gotten a little hungry somewhere in the early teen miles, but not the hunger that can really be satisifed while running.\u00a0 I over did it at the last stop and felt it within the next mile. I was still moving along fairly well but could feel my hip flexors getting tight, my toes getting blisters, and my stomach was a little off.<\/p>\n

I hung in there and finished at the consistent pace we had been going.\u00a0 I ran the last mile pretty much by myself, with a group right in front of me and a guy behind me who later said, “My GI tract finished the run before I did.”<\/p>\n

Reflections<\/strong> – Those are my thoughts from my first 20+ mile run.\u00a0 Here are my take-aways:<\/p>\n