Sunday, September 7, 2008

20 Miles

Today was the first of 2 20 mile training runs before MCM. One thing I've been struggling this training cycle has been th mental aspect of training. Up until today, most of my long runs have been done alone. I would set out early in the morning and it would be just me and the road. Occasionally, I would see someone out watering their lawn or someone out for a bike ride. But for the most part, I would be alone. I was having a tough time staying focused.

After my 14.2 mile training run last Sunday, I realized that I need to run with and be around people more during long runs. I called Rich from OnTrack Activewear and he hooked me up with a group that meets every Sunday, in various locations, for a long run. Today I met the group in Central Park, NYC. There were about 6 in the group all training for different fall marathons. I was immediately introduced to someone who runs around my pace and off we went for 3+ laps of lovely Central Park.

I never realized what a difference having company on a long run makes. The 20 miles went very smoothly and I had no problems staying focused. 20 miles is never easy (especially in Central Park) but having company helped passed the time. A little over 3 hours later I was done with my 20 miles. Here are my mile splits:

Mile 1: 1o:05
Mile 2: 9:26
Mile 3: 9:13
Mile 4: 9:28
Mile 5: 9:02
Mile 6: 10:05
Mile 7: 8:43
Mile 8: 8:55
Mile 9: 8:36
Mile 10: 8:46
Mile 11: 9:08
Mile 12: 10:36
Mile 13: 8:40
Mile 14: 8:54
Mile 15: 9:11
Mile 16: 8:53
Mile 17: 11:50
Mile 18: 8:44
Mile 19: 8:25
Mile 20: 8:45

After stretching, I headed home, hopped in the shower, wolfed down a bagel and grapefruit I headed to my daughter's school for a carnival. I had daddy duty for the carnival since my wife was selling Jewelry at the boutique. By the end of the carnival I was spent.

The good thing about marathon training is that I can eat pretty much anything I want and not feel guilty. Today was no exception, I had 2nd bagel on the way to the carnival. Once I got to the carnival, I had a burger. About an hour later I had a hot dog. For dinner I had a very generous helping of chicken with string beans with brown rice and 3 steamed vegetable dumplings. Later in the evening I had bowl of Ronzoni Healthy Harvest Pasta with marinara sauce and a cup of ginger tea.

1 comment:

DailyRunner said...

Noticed you had a faster pace for your finishing miles. Awesome job. I'm trying to do more of that this year as well, and hope that the effort translates into a faster time.