Last (really) Long Run Pre 50K

If you have been keeping up with my previous posts you know that I am training for my first 50k. I ran a marathon back in April, so up until now it hadn't really felt like I was training for a 50k. The ladies that I am training with who have lots of experience in endurance running said that we really need to get one last (really) long run under our belts. We needed to get 26 miles in. 26 miles is the longest distance I have run to date so I knew that it was going to be a challenge. My last long run before the last marathon I ran was 21 miles and I really bonked out by the end. Some people went on to get in 22 - but I had to stop at 21. I am typically not in pain when I bonk, but rather my legs are just really tired and I feel like I can't get them to move any further.

After a 4:30am wake up call my day was started!

With that said, I was really looking forward to this training run because we were going to do a point to point run through a beautiful paved trail. One of our fellow runners who didn't need to get in as many miles as we did offered to drop us off at the start of the trail and pick us up in another town at a location that would be close to the ending point of our 26 miles.

The park we ran through is known as Rock Creek Park. The section of the trail we started at is known as Lake Needwood. It has been really rainy here the last few weeks and today was no exception. The forecast was calling for rain and thunderstorms. It made it hard for me to decide what I wanted to wear. However, as soon as I stepped outside I knew I wouldn't be able to wear a jacket. It was really muggy out. Like step out side and instantly start sweating muggy. I had packed a hat but decided against wearing that because I was afraid my head would get too hot! I decided to just go with my t-shirt and capris and off we went.

I didn't take a rest day at all last week so I was a little worried about how I would feel on this run and was happy that I didn't feel to achy when I first started. First few miles were pretty uneventful. We just chit chatted and watched the miles pass. Unfortunately for me, my time of the month decided to come at mile 6. Luckily I had a feeling it might so I was prepared, but I still had to run 3 miles to a port-a-potty! I knew that was going to make me a little tired and maybe not on my A game, but it was just a training run so I just wanted to cover the 26 miles and not worry about time.

For most of the run the other 3 ladies that were running with me were running a little ahead of me. I was totally okay with that. I don't usually worry about my speed on my long runs. I do speed work during the week and that is how I have been able to improve my race times. I wanted to run a pace that was comfortable for me and not risk not being able to finish.

The first part of the trail was pretty flooded. A lot of energy was spent jumping over huge puddles so we didn't our shoes soaked!

We needed to run a little ways past where our friend was going to be picking us up. I thought we had figured out how many miles past the parking lot we needed to go so that we knew at what point we had to turn around to get the 26 miles. Some how we still managed to mess that up and we ran further out than we should have. 2 miles further -- which made it a total of 4 miles over the planned 26 miles! The other ladies continued to run past this "rest stop" however, I knew that we were going over our 26 miles at this point and since they were a little ahead of me I couldn't ask them why they weren't turning around. I decided to stop and take some pictures until they came back around. Turns out they weren't trying to get extra miles in, but that they for some reason miscalculated the out and back route! Oh well.

 

The run was really beautiful. It was just a lot of the same scenery for 26 miles. It did get a little boring at times and I kept looking at my watch and the miles were just not passing as fast as I would have liked ;) 

I mean this is a gorgeous view right? It's better than trying to get 26 miles in on the side of a road somewhere. The weather did hold out alright which I am very thankful for. It did rain during the middle part of the run, but there were no thunderstorms. We were soaked by the end of the run and I'm not totally sure if that were because of the rain or just our sweat!

 

Once my Garmin hit 26 miles I turned it off and decided to walk the rest of the way back to the car. The other ladies decided to walk as well so I didn't feel too badly about. Sometimes I worry about slowing the group down I don't want them never to invite me out with them again!

I was never so thankful to be done a run! Okay well maybe I feel this way after every long run. We met up with Cindy who was patiently waiting for us in downtown Bethesda to finish our run so she could drive us back to our cars!

Downtown Bethesda was hustling and bustling on this beautiful Saturday afternoon. There are tons of fun shops and if I was by myself and not completely spent I might have done some damage to my bank account.

Here are some of my fabulous running buddies - Brenda D., Cindy, Barb, Brenda J and myself. We sat down for a few minutes and collected ourselves. There was a fun bagel shop a few doors down so we headed down there before making it to the car. We got the egg and cheese bagel sandwich and it was so yummy! I am glad I ate it because I didn't eat anything the rest of the day -- after really long runs I have trouble getting food down.

I was pretty much out of commission for the rest of the day. It's not that I couldn't get myself to do anything, it's just that I didn't HAVE to do anything else that day, so I figured why not just lay around and do nothing? My fiance and I hung out for the rest of the afternoon and evening and I loved it.

My time was pretty slow. I had a great pace the first 21 miles, but I really lost it when I started realizing we were going over the 26 miles. I think that it is tough to get over mentally and it results in your body just not wanting to give anymore. Am I proud of myself for finishing this last long and painful training run? Yes. However, I was really disappointed at how much I slowed down those last 5 miles. It makes me wonder if I can complete this 50k. I try and go back to that last long run pre-marathon where I couldn't take another step over 21 miles, but I managed to run 26 with no problem a few weeks later. I will take extra rest days the week before the 50k and really focus on nutrition and hydration.

Since the 50k is a trail run we are hitting the trail for next weekends long run. I am really excited about that. I haven't really done much if any trail running so I guess it is better late than never, right??