If you've been following my blog you might be aware that my pace has been quite slow all summer. It was getting really frustrating, although I tried not to let it bother me as my end goal has always been to finish marathons rather than get PBs or strong times in them all. But yesterday, I FINALLY did a decent long run at the sort of pace I was hitting in the Loch Ness Marathon last year! I'm not certainly how it suddenly changed so quickly, i'm sure changing my gait helped, but perhaps the rest I had on holiday and/or the fitness from previous long runs has been been absorbed. I also took more fuel this time (clif gels and shots - the drink was plain water) and took a block roughly every 20 minutes and a gel every hour.
My 20 miler is a course that starts as a from home to Sandridge, then heads all the way up towards Harpenden. There's then a few miles of cross country back into St Albans, and then it joins the Alban Way for the entire stretch into Hatfield. Finally it returns to St Albans through a college along a track road, and back home. It's hilly at first, but after about 10 miles it's pretty much flat. It's really odd being in Hatfield at mile 15 and looking at a pylon in the distance which marks one of the highest points of the course early on at mile 2, and thinking, I've just run from there! The best parts of the run are the views from the countryside, and the long tree-lined cycle track going from St Albans to Hatfield. The worst is the long 2-mile hill up towards Harpenden alongside a main road.
As it's September and no longer so warm, I got up a bit later and set off at 8am - a much more sociable time. It was lovely weather, blue skies, a light breeze and not too warm. There's not quite a chill in the air yet, so I opted for normal vest (a Shelter charity vest) and shorts. I carried my water in the hydration backpack (it didn't explode this time!). Set off easy like I always do for long runs, and didn't think about how far 20 miles was or how long it would take. Whenever I do a long run I just try and forget all that and just put one step in front of the other for as long as it takes.
Was feeling very good about 4 miles in (2 hills out the way), and a great Christian song came on my iPod (Mighty to Save) which really gave me a boost. I may have missed church yet again but I really enjoy my time running along with Jesus with my iPod and some praise songs! I took my first gel (I'd bought 3, plus a pack of shot blocks). Was glad to see that at mile 5 I was still under the hour, which meant I was on track for a sub-4 hour run. My speed certainly felt faster than last week, event though I didn't feel like I was putting any more effort. So just shows how much different adjusting your gait can do.
But I didn't take the time for the first hour too seriously, as it's normal to feel good at mile 5 at that pace but would it hold up later on?
Well it did, and miles 6-10, despite having the long 2 mile uphill slog, were also at a decent pace, and by 2 hours I was halfway. By the way, I'd put some different songs on my iPod, including a few songs by Beverley Knight, where turned out to be excellent motivational songs. I got to the highest point of the run, Childwickbury Estate, and the views were beautiful. Another gel and a great downhill after that, too! This led back to the town, and I ran a small part of the Park Run course past the lake. My pace still felt good, although I would expect that at 10 miles - my Garmin had shown mile splits at mostly under 12 minute miles, which was unheard of last week.
The second half of the run was mostly a long 5 mile cycle track through town, which has both lovely parts and one or two dreary areas. It was nice and cool as the areas are all shaded by trees, and pretty much flat. Was beginning to get a bit sore now, and when heading into Hatfield onto tarmac with no shades it felt quite hot. My water was running low as well, but I decided i had enough to last me until I got to Oaklands, which has the best water fountain (I'd bought my ID card to get into the gym in Hatfield, but it would involve stopping, getting my backpack off and generally faffing around and using up time while I found the water fountain and had a drink). Although hot and tired, I still got to 15 miles in 3 hours. On the home stretch now.
The final 5 miles were tough, and I became regretting now getting a drink at the gym as I was paranoid about not having enough water. But the run was going well, I was sore and tired but almost home. At 19 miles I paused for a good drink, and felt good for the last mile home. The whole route is actually further than 20 miles, so I decided to go by the garmin and stop when it reach 20. At 19.6 I kept looking at the watch, willing it on - it felt like passing the 26 miler marker on a marathon and the finishing being so close yet so far! At 19.8 I barged past a couple walking their dog (sorry!) just because I was almost done. I could hardly believe it when it finally showed 20 miles. Totally time was 3hr53, which I was chuffed with. I'd fun faster than last week - despite it being an extra 1.4 miles - got my pace to an average of 11.38 min/miles and set a new 20 mile PB!
So an excellent weekend! First 1 mile swim within target time, and a new 20 mile PB! I really hope that lasts for the Berlin Marathon. 4 weeks to Berlin, and although i could probably taper now if i wanted, I think I would prefer to get in one more 20 mile run next week and then will taper for the big day. I have 2 half marathons in between now and the marathon, (both at weekends, which means I need to do the final 20 during the week, which will feel odd) one of which I'll take seriously, but the other will just be a slow medium run in place of the mid-week run. Might discuss this in another post!
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