2/28/08 - 22 miles

I had a really good run this morning at the gym. My schedule called for 20 miles but I decided to go 22 after reading several articles. Some people had argued that part of the reason many marathon runners hit a wall at mile 20 is because most training programs have 20 miles as the longest distance. I also read that because your training runs are run slower than race pace, running 22 miles is approximately the same length of time that you will run on race day. So I decided to go 22 miles on this run in order to help with my physical and psychological training.

I debated about whether to run inside or out but I wanted to make certain my pacing was correct for this run so I opted for the treadmill. I will be sure to run my last 20 miler outside in preparation for the race. I was a bit worried about this long run since I had been sick but I was pleasantly surprised to find that I felt really good today.

I ran the first 5 miles at a 9:04 and then increased the pace to 8:49 for the majority of the run. The last few miles I increased the pace again to 8:34. I tried GU for the first time today as an experiment. I have always used clif shot bloks on previous runs. I like the shot bloks but I find that because they are solid, pieces of the shot blok stay with me long after I have drank water. I took a GU pack about 20 minutes before I started my run, took another after 1 hour, another after 2 hours, and another after 2 hours 45 minutes. I drank some water after each GU pack and I also drank Gatorade every 4 miles or so depending on how I was feeling. I ran the 22 miles in 3:14:27 which is an 8:50 pace.

Total miles for the week: 43 miles