Bottle It Up!

Saturday I had the best long run of my running career. I've been thinking about it ever since, wondering how I could capture it, repeat it, again and again. I have been eating reasonably well this week and trying to pay particular attention to hydrating well since the weather has finally realized it is indeed summer. But I wouldn't say either of those things are out of the ordinary. I slept... ok. I ate a usual pre-run breakfast (a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a banana). So, what did I do that can be replicated on the off chance this run was more than just a happy accident along the way?

The Pace: I've been reading a marathon training book that is pretty bland... But the chapter on pace has been eye opening. I am paraphrasing here, but the advice for the long run is to run it S.L.O.W. He suggests 2 minutes per mile slower than your anticipated race pace (I'm not sure that would look like running for me, more like strolling). In short, the theory put forward in this book is that a person should do their speed work, tempo work, hill work etc... during the week. That your long run is about endurance, about time on your feet, about covering the distance.... but it is NOT ABOUT PACE. Don't race your long runs.... Huh.

I ran with Megan, who is also signed up for the Twin Cities Marathon, and is generally a little quicker than me. We agreed to aim for a 10 min/mile pace for the run and it felt great. We were able to talk in complete sentences and move through the miles. We finished 12 miles at a 9:49 pace, which I would attribute mostly to a fast last mile where we both had the giddy-ups and pushed hard to the finish.

The Route: I've never really done this before, but we ran 7.2 miles in a loop that finished by our cars. We stopped, took some water, ate some Sport Beans, went to the bathroom and set off to finish our last 5 miles. That 2-3 minute break left me feeling refreshed and ready to continue. Our route contained a number of hills, but nothing overly challenging. The conversation was easy (except for mile 10 where we were quiet, focused).

Seriously folks, my legs were a bit heavy, but barely sore. I was able to move through most of my day with the kids comfortably. (Although I did crash hard around 9:00pm).

Let's bottle it, capture it, pack it away for the inevitable tough ones that are headed my way.