Finally a 20 Miler

I ran a 17 mile long run on the day of the Boston Marathon bombing, April 15th.  In the nearly 2 months since, it has been a slow go when it comes to long runs.  Some days, I wasn't able to go as far as I would've liked.  Other days, my quads were bothering me so much that I took off entirely.  I did get some good long runs in, including an 18 miler a while back and a 17 miler two weeks ago.  Still, I was hoping to have a 20 miler or two under my belt by this point.  Today, I finally went out and completed a 20 miler. 

When I was trying to find answers for my quad problems, I saw a crazy idea in Running Times a few years back.  It suggested running hard downhill for about 30 seconds and do 4 repeats to start.  They said that it would make them sore afterward, but the quads would feel great when they finally recovered.  I figured that I might as well give it a try.  I ran 4 downhill repeats at Jacobsburg in the rain on Friday.  On Saturday, I tried to do the same at Trexler, but after one repeat I just quit.  My quads were too sore and the hill I chose was too steep for running fast and under control.

Sunday, I was still too sore to run.  This morning, I woke up feeling much better.  There was some mild soreness lingering, but it wasn't enough to stop me from attempting my first real run since Thursday's tempo run.

It was raining when I left the house and looking at the weather map, it was going to ran all day.  I also wanted to go to some basketball games this evening and I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow afternoon.  I didn't have any options, but to run the long run in the rain.

Because it was raining, I had to stay on pavement.  There was no way I was going to run on a soggy stone trail.  At first, I thought of doing the loop around Easton, but I didn't want to have to stop for a drink and carry money that would get soaked.  Therefore, I needed a paved out and back.  I headed to Penn Pump Park to begin there.

As I was getting dressed, I saw vehicle pull in.  I thought it was my friend Chris's.  When I saw the running stickers, I knew it was his.  He didn't see me and was about to go run, so I yelled to him.  He waited for me to finish changing and I tried to do so quickly.  I actually wanted to put on a singlet, but in the rush I ended up wearing what I drove there with.  At least it was a tech shirt.

Chris and I took off and headed toward Mill Race Park.  I was glad that I bumped into him and had some company.  He was nice enough to run slow for me.  It was actually a little on the quicker side for one of my long runs, but I wasn't complaining.  It was good to have company.  We chatted and the first 2 miles went by rather quickly.  They were both over 8 minutes each.

When we got to the path at Tatamy, I told Chris that I was going to turn around.  It was stone and I didn't want to run through the slop.  Chris continued on.  I was hoping to run 2.5 miles out and 2.5 back for the first leg, but this would have to do.  I turned around and headed back.

I got just past Penn Treaty Park and I saw a young lady coming the other way with a dog.  I figured that it was likely my friend Emily, who I saw running with her dog there last week too.  Sure enough, it was her.  Funny, how we end up going there at the same time.  I wanted a little extra distance in this segment, so I turned around to run with her and her dog.

The dog, Brick, loves to run, but apparently he also likes to jump at me.  He kept trying to do that, until Emily got between me and him and then he ran along fine.  It was great to have some more company.  My long runs would probably be so much easier if I ran with people.

We went out to Mill Race Park and turned around.  That was some good extra distance.  I figured since we went out more, Chris would eventually catch up with us and he did.  The three of us, plus pooch, ran together.  Since Chris and Emily both tend to run faster than me, the pace picked up.  It became brisk for me, but I was glad that it didn't kill me.  Emily left us at Penn Treaty Park.

The next mile clocked in at 7:41.  That might've been correct.  I don't know if the three of us were going that fast, but it seemed likely.  Chris and I finished up back at Penn Pump Park.  It was 5.3 miles into the run for me.  The company was definitely great and as I said to the two of them, "I'm going to miss the company throughout the rest of my run."

The good thing is that my legs were feeling good.  There was still some minor soreness, but nothing like last week.  I told Chris that I should be able to do at least get to 15 miles now.  I stopped for some much needed water and perhaps mostly importantly, a change of shirts.  My shirt was soaked and I wanted a singlet.

I headed out next on the path toward Easton.  Technically, this is closed still, but I run it all the time anyway.  My plan was to go out 3 miles and back 3 more this time.  To do that, I knew that I'd need to run on the Karl Steiner Arts Trail for some time.  The current trail didn't go much farther.  I was really disappointed when I discovered that it only goes out one more mile.

The trail ended before I knew it, and I was quickly on to Bushkill Drive.  You have to run on the road briefly to get to the Arts Trail.  The roads had some ups and downs, but at least no cars sprayed me with water.  Running down the road to cross over to the Arts Trail was tough.  It was very busy.  I finally made it over to the Arts Trail. 

On the way out, I saw the only other person that was out during the entire run, besides Chris and Emily.  He was just walking.  This trail goes to downtown Easton, so it can be kind of shady.  I thought about that as I was running alone.  The trail doesn't have any real steep sections, but it does go up and down.  At this point, I actually enjoyed that change.  I ran by the cemetery entrance and next to Route 22.  I still felt pretty solid.

I decided to go out to 8.5 miles.  That was kind of where the trail ends.  It goes a bit farther, but the rest of it is more on roads than a paved trail.  I headed back uphill.  Although I felt good, I couldn't believe I had over 10 miles to go.  I plugged away.

I went back uphill and manged to cross the road again and was on to Bushkill Drive.  I ran by a woman who was walking along the road.  I was glad that I didn't startle her.  I couldn't wait to get back onto the main trail.  Finally, I was there at around mile 10.7.  It was good knowing that I only had a little over 9 miles left.

By this point, my singlet was soaked and I could tell that I was starting to have some chafing issues because of it.  I took the singlet off at this point and ran the rest of the run shirtless.  It was nice and cool, so that wasn't a bad idea.  I arrived back at my car at mile 11.70.

I stopped for another drink and dropped my shirt off.  This time, I picked up an energy bar as well.  I needed some nutrition.  I ate it while running, so it was kind of hard to swallow.  I headed back toward Mill Race Park.  I thought that I would be very sore and slow when I restarted, but I didn't feel bad.  I was beat up a little, but not more than I expected.  At this point, I knew I'd at least get to 15 miles.  I was hoping when I got around 15 miles, I'd still feel about this good.

When I got to the path by Penn Treaty Park, I decided to take it to add some mileage.  I went out a short distance.  I ended up adding another .65 miles to the run.  Every little bit helped that this point.  There were no major hills here, but it was a mild up and down section.

By now, my big toes were bothering me.  I guess I had been contacting the ground too much.  I carried on though.  I started to struggle just a bit, but I just focused on getting to Tatamy again.  When I did arrive there, I turned around and headed back.

I kept plugging along and was looking forward to getting back to my car.  I wanted more water and another break.  It was a slow go, but I arrived back.  I think I was just over 16 miles at that point.  The water was big help.

I knew from now on that I needed shorter out and back segments to survive the rest of the run.  I needed to break the run down into smaller and more manageable chunks.  I headed out in the other direction again.  This time, I only wanted to get to the road crossing and turn around.  That would add about a mile to the run.  Every little bit helps though.  I felt good when I went out, but coming back was a struggle.  I think it was slightly uphill and my toes really bothered me.

This time, I continued on out.  I was at 17.5 miles.  I was getting close to my longest run of the year (18 miles).  I had definitely fallen off at this point.  The miles were well over 9 minutes each.  Still, I was surviving and figured I could make it all the way to my goal of 20 miles.

My hamstrings were actually getting tighter at this point.  The quads weren't all that bad.  The rain had slowed and I no longer had my hat.  Of course, now the sky opened up again and it poured.  I do love that though because running through it makes me feel so tough.

I tried to focus on getting a mile out.  That would put me at 18.5 miles.  I got over 18, but around 18.2, I got sick of heading out.  I turned around there and headed back.  I was right near a road crossing.  When I got halfway between that crossing and the next one, I turned back around again.  I wanted to get the extra distance in.

I just focused on small increments.  I was falling apart though.  I was over 19 miles when I arrived back at my car.  I went out in the shorter direction for one final time.  Now, it was just a short out and back.  It was all mental.  I got a side sticker at this point and the only thing that helped was leaning forward.  I ran along awkward and slow.  Somehow, I got to the 19.65 mile point and turned around and headed back.  Then I continued on and lumbered back in.  This final mile was so slow.  I finished it at 10:40.  I ran for just over 3 hours and felt good to be done.

I was so happy to battle the elements and myself and make it through.  I thought this would be my first solo 20 miler since 2010.  With unexpected early company, it wasn't.  That was great to have friends to run with.  I need to run long runs with people more often.  I really enjoyed the fact that the three of us BCR folks were the only ones out there running during the entire 3 hours that I was on the path.

I realized afterward that not only is this my first 20 miler in 3 years, but it is only the 7th time I've ever gone this far.  That includes my marathon races.  My body is definitely not used to this distance.  I hope that one day that will no longer be the case.

I was so tight at the end of the run and was grateful that I didn't cramp up.  I thought my drinking was okay, especially considering how wet and cool the air was.  I weighed myself afterward and lost about 9 pounds.  I guess I have to drink more. 

My legs will be very sore from this run.  Obviously, I'm not running tomorrow.  If I opt to run on Wednesday, it will be very short and easy.  I'll definitely at least bike then.  I'm hoping to do a tempo run on Thursday.  A lot of that will depend on how I recover from this one.

20 miles - 3:00:40 (9:02 pace)