McMillan Custom Marathon Plan: Week 10 Day 7

Week 10, Day 7
Phase: Marathon
Workout: Long, Steady Run: 18 to 20 miles
Purpose: Build Endurance and leg resistance to fatigue

Up early for a long run this morning. Checked the weather – 70°F/94% humidity – nice! Had my usual 3 scoops of Sustained Energy mixed with 24oz of water for breakfast and mixed up a flask of Perpetuem to carry with me on the run. Perpetuem has really worked wonders as a fuel for my long runs and I’ve now used it successfully in several longer distances too.

Anyway, out of the house at 5:50am and a couple of miles down the road I realize I’ve forgotten my Perpetuem flask and my post-run Recoverite – what a fool! An 18-20 mile run is quite challenging at the best of times. Add in 94% humidity and no fuel and it definitely becomes a tough workout. I probably should have turned back, but who knows if I would have left the house again? Getting out the door on long run day is often the biggest hurdle itself.

I start my run at around 6:30am and within 3 miles my singlet is saturated. Luckily I’m passing the car at around the 6 mile point, so I drop the singlet off, have a quick drink of water and I’m on my way again. I planned on using the portable toilet in the parking lot but Tropical Storm Hanna must have blown it over at some point on the weekend. Oh well…

For this particular long run I decided to turn off the Garmin 405 lap counter. I didn’t want to get hung up on splits and too many details so average pace and distance would be plenty for me to think about.

The run was pretty eventful really apart from dodging the numerous pine cones and fallen branches on the Cape Henry Trail in First Landing State Park (the green area in the map below). I averaged 7:30 per mile for the run and only in the last couple of miles did I feel like I needed some kind of fuel to pick me up. Before the drive home I stopped by the nearest grocery store, bought some orange juice, a Clif Bar and a banana which lasted me until arrived home for a hearty breakfast, a cool bath and a nap.