Long Run

Today I ran a 20 miler. I looked back at my log, and this is my ninth run of 20 miles or more since mid-July. I didn't look at my upcoming schedule, but I would guess that I'll have three or four more before my marathon in March. My fitness has never been better. I do still need to drop ten pounds or so, but I'm slowly losing. I'm at a point where I feel like I can go 20 miles at anytime. I ran three 20 mile runs in preparation for my last marathon (Mardi Gras Marathon in February 2003), and they were terrible. I hated the long run then and hadn't run 20 miles again until this summer. This year I'm cranking them out and am still feeling good at the end.

According to my schedule, I should run my long runs at goal marathon pace + 20% at the beginning of the long run and then increase the pace to marathon pace +10% for the last five miles. My goal marathon pace is 7:00 m/m, so my long runs should start at 8:24 m/m and then finish at 7:42 m/m. This was the pace I ran early in this training cycle. However, as my conditioning has improved, so has my pace. Today, I averaged 7:50 m/m for the first 15 miles and ran the last five at 7:30 m/m pace or faster. Next Sunday is a 15 miler with 10 miles at marathon pace. If I do well on that run, I'll feel great about reaching my goal on race day.

Now the bad news. During today's long run, I had to stop to use the bathroom four times during the first nine miles. These weren't quick stops to pee. These stops involved sitting. I'm not sure why I'm having this problem. I still need to try eating smaller portions to see if that helps, but on Thanksgiving weekend, it's not going to happen.