Last long run- 20 miles

COVID-19, “The Rona Era”

Today, this weekend, all the runners will be on the Boston Marathon course for the last long run. 20 to 21 days before the Boston Marathon, there is a running “ dress rehearsal” on the Boston Marathon course. Either 20 or 21 miles runners will be running the course. Also, this is when there are many fuel stations hosted by charity teams to fuel the runners along the 20 or 21 leg of the course. In 2019, before COVID, when I ran the “ last long mile”, I remember there being over 1,000 runners on the course and so many fuel stations, cheer crowds and lots of support along the way. The police were out to protect runners and manage traffic.

Now, this is the first time, post pandemic that I’ve done this. It is not the same as before but the energy and many runners were on the course. I decided to do an out and back for my 20. I started at the heartbreakers running club at mile 20 and ran to Natick and then back.

My first miss step was having a busy Friday, so I was able to eat, rest, and properly hydrate. Friday started at 5:30a.m. getting ready for Strength training class, acupuncture, hair appointment, two meetings, and picking up a friend from the hospital. Then I had to go to the store to get food.

I might have over eat, over carbed with sweet potato, pasta, salmon, and vegetables. I ate my meal too late.

All that aside, Saturday, I was at mile 20 by 6:30a.m. I packed the fuel vest and started. This time of the morning was good. It was early and quiet. I wanted to get a start running before all the runners came out.

I would see a sprinkle of people. What I’m proud of, is my endurance to get my butt up the Newton hills without stopping. I felt strong. Stronger than I felt before. As I would pass runners, I got smiles, fist bumps, and “ good job”. When I reached, Natick Center, which I thought was mile 10, my Garmin told me I ha two more miles to go. That mentally threw me off for a bit. I ran passed the center and kept going. I was getting close to Framingham, which would make it more than 10 miles out. I decided around mile 9 to turn around and I would make up the miles by Boston College.

I saw a couple of the charity teams getting their stations ready. When I turned back around to head towards the 20 mile marker, they were good to go. I made a note to take a break and stop at every stop.

On the way back is when I started to see a lot of runners. On the right and left side of the streets. Many passed me by. It was getting a bit crowded for my taste. When I was on route 16 heading towards the firehouse, there were waves of runners.

I hate to admit this, on route 16 I fell and there were runners behind me. Everyone had stopped. I told them to keep going and I popped back up and kept running. LOL. I’m not sure what happened. I think my legs got tired. I need to be mindful of that.

Going up the inclines I did feel stronger. My body could keep going but I was tired. Again, I need to work on my fuel an get it going fours days out before I run.

Overall, I felt good going out. I think my stamina lasted until mile 16, then it was a bit of a struggle. I could run but it wasn’t as easy as the first 16 miles. As Coach Dan said, “ You trained up for the Challenge” and that I did.

I saw my peeps from Heartbreakers and Trailblazhers. The closer I got to mile 20, the more people I saw running. I was beyond happy when I saw mile 20 . I knew also there would be donuts and a crowd of people.

Overall miles : 20.32; Time: 4:22:41 , 12:56 pace. Not bad. I know I want to improve on my time and work towards a 10:30 pace. 35 more days until Big Sur. I know I can do it, but I want to do it strong, healthy, and a bit faster than today.