Done. That is all I can say. Over the last 12 weeks I have ran 5 – 20 mile runs all solo. The 5th one being completed on Sunday. I thought I was going to break my streak on this, the last and final long run, but my buddy had to bail on me do to family obligations. It is fine that he did though. After running 4 long runs by myself, I was not disappointed in the change of plans. I just ran the 20 alone.
I had scheduled this last long run at the Columns. This was the second time I had run the Columns as part of this training. The first time was on Ann Marie’s birthday. It was a 17-mile run for me and she met me at the Columns and ran approximately the last 9 miles with me. This was one of the few runs where I had a running partner so I remember the occasion.
On this 20 mile run, I wanted to hit the Columns for the gravel trail. With the last couple of Half Marathons two weeks apart, the joints have been feeling it over the past week. I figured with the softer (well, softer than the asphalt) trail it would save the joints and hopefully speed recovery going into taper.
Sunday was a rainy, damp, cloudy day. I arrived at the Columns at 8:50AM to start a 9AM run. The goal was to maintain an average pace of marathon pace + 15 seconds for the whole 20 miles.
The day before I plotted the run and splits. Since I was not using a Garmin I decided to make the loops and the out and back my interval times to hit. The 20 miles:
1. 3.25 Loop
2. 5.0 – Out and Back on Columns Drive
3. 3.25 Loop
4. 2.00 Inner Loop
5. 3.25 Loop
6. 3.25 Loop
When I started, the rain was light and a head wind coming from the South was blowing up the trail. It was enough of a wind that I knew that the times heading out on the trail and the back section of Columns Drive would slow my pace.
On the portions where the wind was blowing directly into my face, I tucked in with my head down, body lean and sliced through the wind. Once I turned and had a tail wind, I increased the pace to average it out for the loop. The first loop of 3.25 miles was 22 seconds fast which I was not concerned with since I tend to go out fast and settle in later. I eased into the run pace and headed out onto Columns Drive for the 5 mile out and back.
With the wind at my back, I knew the 2.5 miles heading back to the trails was going to be a negative split, so I increased cadence and speed in order to give myself a cushion for this interval section. I saw a few bikers and passed 6 runners on the road. There were 2 bikers that I saw 4 times on Columns. I kept thinking to myself, “what a monotonous ride”. Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. My goodness. I even said out loud to myself, “shoot me if I ever come down here and do this kind of freaking boring ride”. Little did I know at the time, running 4.75 loops on the trail is equivalent to that kind of pain fest of repetitiveness on the bike.
At the end of the 8.25 miles and heading back onto the trails, I was a total of 18 seconds ahead of total run time. I did not worry or be concerned at this point since 1 was only 41% completed and the place where I was to need energy and sheer determination was at mile 16. This is where the brain and body stop talking to each other and start carrying on with their own conversations and telling you to stop this nonsense. With being 7.75 miles from that point right now all I needed to do was focus on pace.
After 11.5 miles, I was still 18 seconds ahead of total pace time. With this amount of time, I eased off the pace and settled in again. The wind had died down and a light rain was falling. As I made my way around the trail, I noticed an increase of population of runners and walkers. In the morning, the “hard core” walkers were out with their dogs walking in the rain. There were a few runners, but majority of the people at the Columns were 60+ year olds. They were decked out in rain gear, boots and safari hats. By the time, I was completed with the 3 segment of the run the demographics had shifted to more runners, a little younger and less clothing on, meaning no rain gear.
As I rounded the trail to make it out for the 4th segment I decided at the end of this 2 miler I was going to peel off the top layer and refuel my bottle. I had lost 5 seconds that 2 mile loop. I believe the mind was wandering a little thinking of what is going to be for dinner.
With having 13 seconds in the bank, I decided to maintain the pace and see how much time I had to make up after the stop. Rounding the Parking Hut, I made it to my car with my car key in hand. I had laid out the bottle in the trunk and like a NASCAR pit crew I had removed the top layer shirt, changed bottles and was out of pit row in 20 seconds.
With the pit stop and losing a little time on the 2 mile due to the mind starting to wander a bit, I was behind pace by 7 seconds. In my head I thought, “okay, you have 7 seconds to make up with 6.5 miles to go.” That is a little more than 1 second per mile I need to make up. “No problem”, I said aloud to myself.
When I run, after an hour or so I start to have open conversations with myself. I ask a question in my head and answer it aloud. This does two things for me. 1. It helps me hear my breathing to determine if I am over the threshold and 2. Since I am running solo, it keeps me company. In addition, we can have some good conversations sometimes. Me and I can talk about food, beer, weather, how we are feeling, where the next turn is. You name it we talk about it. Actually, we may even have conversations about you, the reader of this blog. However, we will never tell. I am not one for gossip.
During the 5th segment I started to come across either High School or College Cross Country runners. The speed and fluidness of their runs seemed effortless. Unfortunate for me they were going in the opposite direction of me so I never had the chance to pass them.
At the end of the 5th segment as I passed the “Parking Hut” it finally hit me that I was as sadistic as those bikers out on Columns going back and forth, back and forth. Instead, I was like a crazed dog chasing its tail in a preverbal 3.25 circle. I laughed at myself, said I was a nut job, looked at my watch and thought, “time to bring it home”. I was 3 seconds behind the total time at the interval. With only 3.25 miles to go, I figured I had plenty of time to make it up.
I picked up the pace slightly and felt my heart rate and breathing become more labored. I looked up the trail and pinpointed on a runner that I was to “pick off”. If I focused on the runner ahead, slightly increasing the pace and counting the time at landmarks for when they hit it compared to when I hit it, I was able to control my overall speed and pass them. This way I would not blow up with a mile or so to go.
As I headed on the short out and back to the back parking lot near 285, I passed by a few of the Cross Country runners. I knew at their pace I would not gain ground on them so I dismissed them as my target. Round the back parking lot and about a quarter mile from the turn, I had a new challenge. 3 Cross Country runners and an older runner with a Louisville Ironman Finisher hat on passed me in the other direction. From the look on their faces and the glance I got as I passed by, I knew they were in for a chase.
I had to keep my composure because this was not a race and I did not need to push it beyond the 1 second faster to hit my target time, but the competitor in me kicked in.
I knew they would track me down and overtake me if I did not accelerate. I took a deep breath and with over a mile to go, I settled in at a faster pace. Not lightning fast, just faster. The heart rate was up, the breathing was labored, the legs were yelling at me, but I knew if I thought these guys were coming down on me I would for sure make my time for this 20 mile run and then some.
As I made it over the small bridge heading North on the trail, I glanced back and saw the pack behind me by a few 100 meters. I decided at that point to just run and not look back. I focused ahead and made tracks through the leaves and pine needles. I heard footsteps behind me as I ran with less than a half-mile to go thinking these guys kicked it up, but it turned out to be my own footsteps kicking up gravel, leaves and dirt. Just then, I saw the octagon bench in the distance indicating the end was near. I increased the pace slightly more and pretended I was on my last 400M track set while I increased my kick. Again it was not a blinding all out speed, just enough to push my limits after 19.75 miles.
As I rounded the last turn and saw the Parking Hut, I kicked it a bit more passing the hut and hitting the stopwatch. 8 seconds ahead of the total goal time for the 20 miles. At that moment after glancing at my watch, the pack of 4 runners ran by as I nodded and the 4 of them nodded knowing that the friendly chase was over.
We are always thankful when we have met our goals in achieving what we set out to accomplish. For me, it was the 5-20 milers all at my targeted paces. As I hit my watch and saw the time, I knew I was ready for the long haul pace on the 19th of April.
The next 3 weeks leading up to this event are going to be filled with emotion and challenges to keep focused. Tapering for a race can be as trying as any long distance endurance training run. You need to stay focused, clear on your objective and just be happy. No need to let things upset you. There really isn’t anything that can be that damming to you and what you have achieved up to that point.
Monday. I emailed Ann Marie last night to see if she could save me a bike for Brian’s spin class. I was not going to “grind it out”, but I want to go to flush the toxins from the legs and loosen up the tightness from the run on Sunday. With Ann Marie saving me a bike, it also forced me to get up and do it. I now had a commitment that I need to keep.
Brian’s spin was rough. Not for me since I just spun, but for the participants. A lot of AT stuff. I just spun and spun while watching the Tour de France on the screen.
After I stretched and when I was leaving Chris told Ann Marie and I that the lap pool looked absolutely disgusting. He stated he was going to swim at Woodstock-LTF in the morning because of the quality. On the way down to the locker rooms, Ann Marie and I took a detour to check out the pool’s conditions. A rare pop quiz for the pool on Monday. The grade was an: F. The water had a green tint, dirt in the corners, clumps of something floating in the water, it was cloudy making the Black lane lines at the bottom of the pool look gray and to top it off there was a skim of slim on the pool’s surface.
Good to see that people who call them professionals cannot do the job they are paid to do.
I am seeking alternative venues to swim.
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