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20 milers

The First 20 and Boston Week 4 Recap

January 30, 2012 by Kristy 10 Comments

Saturday was the first of 5 20-milers that I’ll be doing to prep for Boston.  Why so many?  Well, practice makes perfect and (generally) I handle 20 miles pretty well in terms of recovery, so I can do a lot of them without compromising my other runs.

So the weather was perfect on Saturday.  Seriously, it felt like Spring.  Night and day compared to a week ago.  I did 2 hilly loops totaling 11 miles before heading for some flat, paved trail for the remaining 9 miles.  My breathing felt off the entire time.  I slowed down, I sped up, and yet it was still off.  I started getting hot and I guess I was sweating more than I thought.  I tried drinking more but it was too late, I was already dehydrated.  Boo.  The last 3 miles were HARD.  I wanted to stop and quit, especially at mile 19.  19 miles?  20 miles?  What’s the difference?  I thought about Boston and, knowing I would never quit at mile 25, I trudged onward.  2 hours and 55 minutes later (8:45 average pace), I was done.

I quickly got into my car (all I wanted to do was sit down) and chugged my chocolate milk.  Then the aching and throbbing began.  My legs were hurting big time.  I transitioned into sitting too quickly.  I usually walk around, drink my chocolate milk, and stretch a bit before driving home.  Thank god it’s a short drive because I was in pain.  Some stretching, a nice hot shower, lots of food, and a long walk with Hawk and my legs felt completely fine.

Boston Week 4 Recap
MON:  6 miles easy
TUE:  8 miles tempo with 4 miles @ 7:50 pace (7:44, 7:48, 7:54, 7:57).  During the last interval there was a creepy raccoon wandering around and I had to stop and wait for it to move away.  Ewwww.
WED:  barre  My body was screaming for a rest day so I slept in instead.
THU:  5 miles with 10 hill repeats.  I did a mix of short and long hill repeats.
FRI:  yoga.  I left the class feeling wonderful!
SAT:  20 miles
SUN:  5 miles super easy

44 miles for the week.  I was aiming for 47 but oh well, I needed rest.  This week is a drop back week….all the way to 40 miles.  Living on the edge!

Ever get that achy, throbbing feeling in your legs?  The last time I got it was after the Pocono Marathon in May 2010 (it was so memorable because it was so painful).  

 

 

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