Another 20 in the bank

 2nd 20 mile run of this training block.  I was extremely pleased with my first 20 mile run 2 weeks ago but I'm elated with this one.

I hit the Rock Island trail at about 8am on Sunday and the weather was fairly comfortable in the low 60s.  After running my 10 mile PR on Thursday I didn't have high asperations for pace and planned to just cruise at a comfortable effort.

I hit the first mile in 7:58 and thought 8 minute pace would be just fine.  After loosening up in that first mile I naturally sped up and hit a metronomic 7:43, 7:45, 7:44, 7:43 for the next 4 miles.  I dropped my Gatorade bottle off at the picnic table at the 4.5 mark after taking a few swigs and then continued on. 

For the next segment between the picnic table and Wyoming I focused on cruising and running extra easy.  Pace slowed slightly but not much... 7:48, 7:50, 7:51.   About 8 miles in I hit my flow and things started picking up.  I ran through the town of Wyoming at a 7:38 pace before reengaging with the trail for about 1 more mile at 7:43 pace. 

After the turn around point it always start to feel easier, just from the fact of knowing that every step is in the direction of my final destination.  I ran a 7:37 11th mile back through Wyoming before stopping briefly for water break at the bathrooms at the Wyoming trail head... then I hoofed it back onto the trail.  

4.25 miles to my Gatorade and I started to push the pace.  7:31 and then 7:17 for miles 12 and 13.  I thought Woah, that was pretty easy for 7:17 and that's near my planned marathon pace.  Might as well run a few more marathon pace miles at least until I get to my Gatorade.  7:14, 7:08 for mile 14 and 15.  Halfway through mile 16 I got to the picnic table and right where my Gatorade had been about an hour and a half before sat a slovenly looking man writing in a notebook.  I asked him "you didn't happen to see a Gatorade bottle there did you?"... He claimed ignorance.  I looked in the trash and there it was.  Weird, I probably saw like 2 other people on the trail during the entire run... must have been one of them who threw it away.  

Now I was thirsty and tired and craving sugar.  My only respite was back at the Dollar General where I parked my car.  Decided to run the last 4.5 miles on pure hate.

7:11 for mile 16, 7:17 for mile 17...  Just wanted to power through to mile 18 and then I could let off?  7:01 for mile 18.   I was tired but tried to hold my form... 7:04 for mile 19.  One more mile left and I was counting off by .05 increments... 6:52 last mile.

Total Stats:

20.01 miles
2:30:09
7:30 avg pace

7:47 pace for the first 10 miles

7:14 pace for the last 10 miles

7:05 pace for the last 5 miles

Came out of this workout with great confidence... Heart rate was in the 140s until mile 15 and 150 exactly for mile 15 and 16.  Finally hit in the 160s for the last 2 mile, averaging 163 for the last mile and peaking at 171 as I sprinted to the finish...  So despite a really solid pace (for the distance), I wasn't even close to taking it to the well.

On the other hand after an off day on Monday I ran 7.44 miles at 8:27 pace on Tuesday and 8.06 miles today at 7:58 pace.  HR was fine but my legs still felt fairly zapped.  Not sure if running the whole way with basically no fuel made an impact?  32 days til the marathon... one more 20 miler in my plans and then recovery.

2021 Goals Update

Its been quite a while since an update.  Truth be told, I didn't want to admit how bad I'd fallen off my pull-ups.  It's getting better after some catch up so here we go.

1. 10,000 pushups:  7370 on pace for 10717.  I never do pushups anymore.  Finally did 50 this morning.  They were harder than they should have been (actually they were exactly how they should have been since I don't do pushups any more).  This goal is probably too easy which is why I keep procrastinating.  I really need to work these back in and just get them done.

2. 7500 10,000 pulls ups: 6841 on pace for 9948.  Behind pace now but considering I was down to 9700 pace last week not too bad.  Feel like I'm drowning on these a bit... keep bobbing under water and then barely making it back up for air.  Just need to hang on for less than 4 more months.

3. 26 Hours on the Bike:   18:56 for the year... Still haven't biked since May.  Still plan to bike in October after the marathon.

4. 2021 miles: 1765 miles puts me on pace for 2566.  Will probably lose pace a bit when I taper and recover but I should hit 2021.  Kind of shooting for 2500 miles.  We'll see though.  I'm not as worried about the marathon as I used to be but still need to take recovery serious... definitely more important to recover long term than chase arbitrary mileage numbers... anyway, if I hit 2000+ miles for the second year in a row I'll be pleased.