First things first, I finished my 20- mile run on Saturday!! Something about hitting twenty-anything miles makes me feel like I can actually do the marathon now. I parked my car at the Monon Center in Carmel and then did 4 rounds of 5 miles, each time finishing at my car where I had Gatorade and literally anything else you could possibly need during a run (except a second gel pack). Plus, that way I was never more than 2.5 miles away from my car and the bathrooms at the Monon center, just in case.
The Tour de Carmel bike ride was actually going on that same time, so I had plenty of people-watching and noise to keep me occupied for the first part of the run. Surprisingly, being alone didn't bother me at all--perhaps a little more boring, but it was good that setting the pace was completely up to me. I felt great up until 15 miles. When I stopped there to re-fuel, I thought I was going to throw up, but as soon as I took off running again, I felt ok. It's all about playing mind games at that point in a run...you're well past the adrenaline high, so it's just putting one foot in front of the other and knowing you can't back out now. (I had to at least run back to my car, right?!)
Thus far, any time on a long run when I cross into miles I've never done before, it's like my body instantly knows. And then reacts by saying "I'm not going any further." It's not just one part of my body either...it's the lungs, legs, total picture. This time, I was determined not to look at my Garmin to know when I was at 17 miles. I knew if I made a big deal about those last 3 miles being uncharted territory, then my body would freak out. It didn't matter though...my body KNEW. I hit a wall precisely at mile 17.25. From then on, I had to keep making deals with myself. I would pick cross-streets on the Monon and as soon as I made it there, stop to stretch out. It was a lose-lose situation though. If I kept running, my legs just felt like concrete--so stiff and sore even to the touch. But, if I stopped to stretch, then I got that overwhelming nauseous feeling, because my body had a chance to stop and realize what I was doing to it.
It's not like I expected anything different for the last half hour of a 20-mile run, though! I finished at 3h 59m. Looking back, I don't know why I was thinking I would be much under 5 hours for the full marathon. In fact, that 3:59 isn't counting all the times I stopped either for Gatorade or to stretch, so my race time will have to factor all that in as well.
Good thing there are no expectations other than to run (...walk...crawl) across that finish line!
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