18.6!

So I actually did it people. I got off my lazy ass and did my first long run in a month! Yesterday I did 18.6. I ran this distance because it happens to be 30k, also the distance of The Wall, the race I skipped last Sunday because it was 80 degrees out. Yeah- after not running for three weeks the last thing I wanted was to collapse from heat stroke! So I put it off a week, and will be shortening my taper from 3 to 2 weeks. Trust me- for me at this point it is way more important to get in at least two long runs even at the loss of a week of rest.

So yeah. Put it off a week and I'm glad I did. It gave me a fresh start to try to do everything RIGHT for once. I took all of the mistakes I had made before previous long runs/races and tried to fix them in this last week. Here are some of the things I changed/incorporated:

1) no alcohol- I enjoy my beer and wine, but for this last week I cut it out (mostly...might have cheated once)
2) 60-70% carb diet- I generally eat A LOT of roughage, but tried to up the carbs and cut down some of the super fibrous stuff. I eliminated dairy and other fats in the two days preceding too.
3) sleep- I stayed home from work last Monday and Tuesday and slept about 12 hours each day. Wednesday and Thursday night were my usual 6, but then I got 8 Friday and Saturday, which is a first for the two days before a long run or race.
4) running- I went twice last week, 8 mile tempo on Wednesday, and 5 easy miles on Friday.
5) stretching/rolling- I actually did it for once! I stretched Saturday and Sunday before I went for several minutes, and used a rolling pin on my legs (I don't have The Stick). It really seemed to help!
6) Advil- I know this is controversial, but I had been having a lot of aches in my legs and it seemed to help. I took it Saturday night and Sunday before I left.
7) icing- I iced after my 8 miles Wednesday, and then Friday and Saturday night. I also took my first ice bath afterwards....Yikes! That was really cold, but it's true...you just go numb and get used to it.
8) water- I actually used the fuel belt. It helped, but I still have stomach issues with eating and drinking during running. I always feel fine until I start drinking/ having gels...
9) gels- I used three. Two Power Gels which I like because I think the electrolytes are a little higher and I have discovered I can't tolerate Gatorade during a run. Then for the third I had a Gu Roctane, which I am convinced really DO help decrease post-run soreness.
10) breakfast- I had oatmeal (the norm) and also a banana about an hour and fifteen minutes before. I had coffee (no cream this time) too.
11) hydration- during the week I always keep up on water, but Saturdays I usually forget. This time I remembered and had plenty of water all day.
12) the actual run- I tried to go slow and steady and I found that I really did have more energy in the end....I think I kept pretty good pace the whole time (more on this in a sec).
13) replacement- during the ice bath I had water and chicken noodle soup. I have read that it is particularly useful as replacement fuel because it replaces salt and has a good protein/carb ratio for replacing muscle glycogen and easing soreness. Either way it was good to have something hot while sitting in 55 degree water!
14) massage- I did self massage the couple of days before, and got my husband to give me a good leg massage with bengay last night.
15) weather- I know this is beyond our control, but it did help that the high yesterday was only 56 or something. And it was overcast my whole run. Fingers crossed that marathon day is the same!

And today I feel pretty good! My left achilles is sore, but that's it. So I did 18.6 in 3 hours and 16 minutes. Normally this would disappoint me, but given the last month I was pretty happy with it! I did stop at mile four to use the restroom and refill the one bottle I drank up to that point. I also chatted for a minute with an older gentleman who was asking me questions about how far I was running, why, etc. So in all the stop cost me three minutes. I then ran until I hit that spot on the way back (at 14 miles) at which point I stopped and walked about .4 miles to eat the last gel. I still have so much trouble with gels/stomach upset. This didn't happen with the last one...so is it that walking while I got it down really helped, or that I have more toleration for Gu products than the Power Gels? I might have to switch to some other Gu flavors for the first couple next week and see if it's better. So anyway, I continued running and only stopped again at 17.5 to walk about .2 to stretch out my hamstrings which were getting tight. Then I ran the rest and finished at 18.6.

The one downfall of the run was that I forgot to check and be sure the Garmin was locked onto the charger. My cats hit it askew all the time and it drives me nuts! It will be sitting on the charger, but not connected, so to speak, and when I turn it on it immediately says battery low. And I hate the Garmin for the one fact that it takes FOREVER to charge. I can throw my cell on the charger for 20 minutes and the charge is complete. The Garmin takes hours. So I charged it a quick 15 minutes and figured I'd see how long it lasted. I was worried, because I know my route til about the 6 mile turn around, but I had to go 9 before the turn, so I hoped it would last. (The last .6 is a loop in my neighborhood). Luckily the Garmin lasted to 12.2, so I knew when to turn, but it was a bummer in terms of my splits. The 12.2 took 2 hours and 6 minutes, so a 10:22 average pace. Again, slower than I would have liked, but I found I can maintain it because the last 6.4 took an hour and ten minutes (deduced from the fact that the whole run took 3:16) which is what, like a 10:55 pace? So not THAT much slower in the end, which can pretty much be explained by my walking .6. So I think all the running was probably pretty close to 10:20. I had orignally hoped to average about 9:30 for my marathon pace, but given the last month I would be happy with 10 even, which at this point I think might be doable.

So anyway, all went well and now I have only one more long run...YAY! I plan to run 5 Wednesday, 8 Thursday and 5 Friday. Today and tomorrow I am doing some pilates and stretching. Saturday and Sunday I will mostly rest, but want to do some squats and core stuff. May be too little too late, but I figure a little strength training will at least make me FEEL more confident, even if it actually doesn't help me physically. I do still have three weeks, and alot can be done for your core in that amount of time if you stick with it, just a little a day. Then next Monday I have my last long run of 21 miles. I wanted to go over 20 because mentally I worry about the dreaded 'Wall' which supposedly hits at that point. I feel if I just go a little over I can figure out how that will affect me, or, hopefully, find that it doesn't. This will also help me because 5 miles is my typical 'short run' so if I run 21 I will know that come marathon day I only have to do that plus a 'short run', so mentally it will seem a lot more doable. Make sense? Any last minute tips?