Well, I must admit, I’m happy this particular workout is behind me. I made the bold, but maybe not too smart, decision to attempt this 20 mile run at a faster pace than the FIRST Training Plan suggested. The idea behind that piece of madness was to train at a pace based on my goal marathon pace, rather than based on a 5k time I ran quite a long time ago. The difference, although not huge, was significant, and possibly the reason why today was a good long run, not a great one.
Anyway, enough of the preamble and on to the workout. On leaving the house, I (foolishly) thought it was a perfect morning for a long run – breezy and a balmy 74°F 🙂 I had hoped to run this workout yesterday, but a few things happened and I had to change my plan. Not a major problem, but it definitely would have been nice to have Sunday morning free instead of facing 20 miles on the trail.
The first mile, as is traditional for my long runs, was just under an 8:00 minute mile – nice and easy! No time to relax though, as it was time to get serious and pick up the pace – 18 miles at 6:59-7:14 pace, with the luxury of an easy mile to finish.
The next 6 miles were all on the road, not the trail, and felt quite comfortable – 7:11, 7:04, 7:10, 7:10, 7:10, 7:05. The next mile was a solid 7:11 and preceded a slightly slower 7:27 which included a quick pit stop (if you know what I mean)!
The 3 miles on the trail felt pretty good, although the humidity was really, really intense. I probably ran these miles too fast – 7:06, 7:05 and 6:58 – and by the time I reached a water fountain at the other end of the trail, I was feeling quite fatigued. It’s a hard feeling to describe, but the humidity had sapped me of much of my energy and I still had 8 miles to run! I took an Espresso flavored Hammer Gel, washed it down with some water, and set off again. I crossed my fingers and hoped the caffeine and carbs cocktail would give me a much needed boost.
Mile 13 (which included the above stop) was 7:49. Maybe the placebo effect of the gel helped as the next mile was a brisk 7:03, but I needed to stop for a drink before setting off again. Mile 14, which included the stop, was a 8:03, quickly followed by a 7:13. These last 2 miles were run on a road from The Narrows back to the 64th Street park entrance. The road has a severe camber on both sides and as I hit the trail again on mile 17, my left knee screamed out in pain. I think the forced camber must have irritated the thick iliotibial band running from the hip to the outside of the knee. The pain was exactly like the ITB injury I experienced 2 years ago. I stopped, stretched and walked. The flatness of the trail helped slightly. I stopped, stretched some more and started to run again. As you can imagine, this mile was the slowest and most painful of them all – 11 minutes and 3 seconds, but at least the scraping feeling seemed to have gone away.
Despite being extremely tired, thirsty and paranoid the pain would return, I somehow managed to pick up the pace again and complete the next 2 miles in 7:11 and 6:57. Thankfully this was the last of the Planned Marathon Pace (PMP) miles and I was able to take a drink and jog slowly back to the car.
Back at the car I stretched for about 15 minutes and hoped the knee pain was “just one of those things”. Back at the house, I dug out my foam roller and performed about 15 minutes of “rolling” the outside of my left thigh. I guess the real test will be in the morning after a good night’s sleep. I just hope I can get ready in time for Tuesday’s Key Run Workout #1….