20 Miles

This morning I ran the ING New York City Marathon Long Training Run #1 , an organized 20 mile training run complete with water/Gatorade stations, emergency medical services and pace leaders. The Flyers were a huge part of the event, supplying all of the pace leaders and the brilliant announcer.

I ran with the 8:30/mile pace group which was a group of around 100 runners led by 8 or so Flyer pace leaders, about half of whom I knew. There was great spirit in the group and the miles passed quickly.

The plan was to do four loops, a six mile loop, two five mile loops, and a four mile loop to finish. After each loop we would stop for about 2 minutes to gather ourselves.

My longest run so far had been a 16 miler two weeks ago, so I wasn't sure about going 20. I really wanted to though, because to reach that distance with the marathon still months away would do wonders for my confidence. Most training programs, including the one I'm following, put 20 miles as the longest training run. It would be a nice milestone to reach.

After the first loop, I used the 2 minute break to jump in a port-a-john to relieve myself (phew!). After the second loop, my legs were starting to feel a little soreness, but a quick stretch and a drink of Gatorade, and I felt amazingly fresh for the third loop. At the end of the third loop, I had run 16 miles, matching my longest run to date. The legs were tired, but again, a quick stretch and a beverage, and I knew I could run another 4.

The fact that I know these park loops like the back of my hand made a huge difference. First, it broke the 20 miles into pieces that I knew I could handle. When it came time to run the last short loop, I had no doubt. I finished feeling strong -- well OK, maybe a bit tight, but otherwise strong.

This chart from my Garmin GPS shows how well our Flyer pacers kept us steady. Distance is on the X axis and pace is on the Y axis.
The first three big lines are the breaks between loops, and the fourth is the end of the run. Otherwise, you can see that we stayed remarkably steady.

After my 16 miler two weeks ago, I asked myself if I would be able to go another 10.2, but that was hard to imagine. This time, I asked myself if I would be able to go another 6.2, and it was a whole new story. After all, that's just one loop of the park. ;-)