9/6/14. Saturday. 5 mile pace run. i don't do these right. you're supposed to run this mileage holding the pace you need/want to maintain for your marathon. i guess you get you body used to that pace, you know what it feels like, you should have an easy time of running at that pace. instead, i tend to just run fast. go as fast as i can, and try to do better than the last time. probably not helping me the way it should. i ran my 5 miles at an average moving pace of 7:30 min/mile. felt blazing, felt like a cheetah, felt like i was running to beat the devil. it was awesome weather, high 50s, and the sun was shining. everything came together and it was a good run. after my run, i hit T's yoga class. i noticed that my heel/arch that hurts me made some poses very difficult. it was hard to put all my weight on that foot and balance, etc. but in general, i felt much better after yoga than i did before. Starting next saturday, she is going to pick an additional time slot at another crossfit gym earlier sat morning. start for a month, see if there is enough interest to keep doing it there. of course I'll support her as best as i can. this coming saturday will be a 4 mile pace run. so i can envision 8am yoga, 4 mile run in everett as fast as i can, maybe breakfast, then 12:30 yoga at CFE. so next saturday should be a good morning.
9/7/14. the big one. My last really Long Run. 20 miles. I did this on the centennial trail, and it was hot as hell (just over 80 degrees, but at least it was low humidity, maybe 45%). parked at the Machias station and struck out headed north. dress rehearsal of the clothes I plan for Berlin: nike raceday shorts, north face singlet. i maintained approx the same pace as my 20 mile run 2 weeks ago (avg moving pace 8:42 min/mile as opposed to 8:49 last time). but here is the thing. when i hit that brutal point after mile 17, it seemed a little better than last time. it still sucked, but maybe not as bad. I ran out of water at mile 17, but had to keep going.
Carbohydrates that a person eats are converted by the liver and muscles into glycogen for storage. Glycogen burns rapidly to provide quick energy. Runners can store about 8 MJ or 2,000 kcal worth of glycogen in their bodies, enough for about 18–20 miles of running. Many runners report that running becomes noticeably more difficult at that point. When glycogen runs low, the body must then obtain energy by burning stored fat, which does not burn as readily. When this happens, the runner will experience dramatic fatigue and is said to "hit the wall".for me this tend to be around mile 17-18. then it gets bad. bad enough i want to quit and walk. bad enough that every step is a conscious decision to take the next one. but here's the thing. there is a simple fact. i think i knew it once, and i forgot it. time heals all wounds, and you forget the painful memories. but i learned it again yesterday, and it was a relief. in fact, i think it was the whole point of my long run. here it is - it won't get any worse. that's it. its that simple. after hitting the wall, when every step sucks, you want to quit. it hurts. your body says stop. it feels terrible. but here it is again - it won't get any worse. just keep going. as bad as it is, it won't get any worse. just do it. it took me almost a 1000 miles to get to this realization. to remember what i had already learned once and forgotten. but it was worth it. when it gets bad in Berlin, and i want quit, i need to just keep going. it won't get any worse. so the long run was almost 3 hours. but it was 2.5 hours of warm-up, 2.5 hours of prep to get me to the point where i could run those last 3 miles and learn something. and it was worth it.
20 and a wake-up.
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