Long Run - 20 Miles - 9-5-09

On Saturday I ran my long run. It was a twenty mile run from Mount Pleasant to Downtown Charleston and back. The route took me through some of the most historic areas of both towns and over the Cooper River Bridge.

Overall, I did OK on the this run. I realized at the end of the run that I had not fueled my body well enough prior to the run and I had not taken in enough fuel during the run. I am glad I learned this lesson on a long run and not during the Marine Corps Marathon.

We started with a slow warm up mile through the Old Village with the whole group (13:33). Did I mention that before we started running I helped some drunk girl move her car out of the road? Well, I guess that can be counted in my warm up.

From the Old Village we headed down Coleman Boulevard (10:43, 10:44). There were four of us running together at this point. We started up the Cooper River Bridge and for some crazy reason we picked up the pace as we went up (10:22, 10:20). At the bottom of the bridge we filled up our water and headed down East Bay Street (10:45, 10:59, 10:51). We ran past the SC Aquarium and the US Customs House. We made our way around the Battery and past the US Coast Guard Station and then made an out and back to the Ashley River Bridge (10:24, 10:34, 10:40). After filling up our water again, Andrew and I headed back around the Battery towards the bridge (10:12, 10:16, 10:23, 10:24). We had picked up the pace for the past four miles and were too fast going over the Cooper River Bridge (10:25, 10:38, 9:45).

I was getting pretty tired as we were going up the bridge when out of know where this seventy two year old man started running with me. He was from Tennessee and had run eight marathons. He said he started running when he was fifty! He was a really nice guy and made that last mile seem easier.

I finally got off the bridge and headed back towards the Old Village. My last two miles were a little slower (10:41, 10:50). On my last mile I felt a slight cramp in both of my calves. After what happened during my first marathon, even the slightest cramp freaks me out.

I was really spent after this run. I know it was twenty miles, but it was at a much slower pace than what I am planning on running in October. I am going to rethink my fuel for the next few weeks. I have a twenty two mile run coming up in two weeks and this may be my last chance to get it right.

1 comment:

  1. Great job! I am finding it IS such a balancing act :) I am sure you will get it figured out and do great on race day :)

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