Monday, September 26, 2011

The 20 miler Newbie =) and what is Too Fast?

This past Saturday I was able to finally complete my first 20 miler of the FIRST training plan. If you remember (if you don't, i'll remind you) my last 20 miler I bonked at like mile 13 because of a ragin' sideache.  But live and learn right...

Also, Hoooray to my friend Tara who completed her first 20 miler this past Saturday. Woot Woot!! There is something special about running 20 miles for the first time ever.  I dunno why, it is kind of like some right of passage into long distance running world. Anywhoo, she ROCKED it. She ran her first 20 miler faster then most run any 20 miler. I was very impressed but not surprised, that girl has some skills.
Tara after her first 20. =)


My 20 was also good. According to my garmin I ran an 8:34 pace, but my garmin is always the faster beeping garmins out of my running club bunch so I'll just assume my pace was around an 8:38 or something. Either way, I felt good but I ran it much quicker then I needed to.

Because I hate carrying water, I decided to make my own water stations along the way. I had two of these stools set up with signs and water. It worked great! Anytime I can, I will do this from now on. =)


So....I have a question that I would like some feedback on. How do you know if you are running too fast? According to the FIRST training plan you should always stick to the pace specified by their training plan. I am shooting for a 3:40 marathon and according to my plan I should have ran that 20 at a 9:08 pace. Which is almost 30 seconds per mile slower then I actually did.

During the run I felt good but towards the end I did get tired. Who doesn't get tired after running 20 miles I don't care what pace you go. Sunday I wasn't sore and I felt good so how do you know?? I don't want to jeopardize the rest of my plan by always running too fast, but if I run too slow am I going to lose what I gained? I dunno... any suggestions?

Anywhoo, my running Guru from club says I went too fast and to back off. So I probably will. I definitely don't want an injury or to overtrain.

But what would you do? Push harder or stay patient?

Happy Running all -Jen

We did a 10 mile loop twice so I used my car as a water station as well. One of our great running buds decided to leave us a nice note!  YAY for running friends. Lots of Love. Oh and I am trying to show you my nasty snarly hair. I have never seen hair like mine duplicated ever.  Anyone with fine ultra tangly hair out there..... or am I the only one?



7 comments:

  1. Oh, I also have the thin tangly hair... yuck. You know it's bad when you can't even get a brush through it and you have to try to pick it out in the shower while slathering conditioner on it.

    Awesome job on the 20!

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  2. Congrats on another 20 done!! I love your water stations, so cute!
    :)

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  3. I always braided my hair and put it in a bun on my long runs. Looked ridiculous, but it was MUCH easier to get through. Also, towards the end of my training for my second half, I started running my long runs as fast as I could to just get them over with. I went from training with my sister to moving here and having no one, so I wasn't enjoying anymore. I truly think that was part of the reason I was injured...and haven't ran since May! Who really knows though.

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  4. Love the water stations you set up! Too cute. I always drop waters for my LR but never thought of putting up signs.

    I am so so guilty of running to fast all the time. It is something I am working on but I really struggle to run 'easy pace'. Who would have though huh? My only advice is find a group of friends that are slower and run your recovery runs with them.

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  5. I just completed my first 20 miler a couple weeks ago and it is such a confidence boost!:) Great job lady, and I love the water station idea. I am going to have to give that a try!

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  6. Girl, you don't even want to see my hair! Since I don't really have to wash my hair every day (landscaping doesn't really require me to look my best!) it can get a bit out of control from time to time :)

    I just bought my first Garmin yesterday (finally!) So excited!

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  7. Awesome run! I love your water stations. I just put my bottles in plastic bags and throw them in bushes. The love notes from your friends is very cool as well. You are going to have an awesome 3:40 marathon!

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