I didn't run all week. I mountain climbed. I slept in a tent. I cycled around Seattle, but I didn't run.This morning I took care of the running.
I'd planned a month ago to run a local 20k marathon buildup race today. 20k is 12.44 miles. A nice long way. Just slightly less than a 1/2 marathon.
Bill had suggested a 10 MILE warm up prior to the 20k race. We'd substitute the combined warm up and race as our weekend long run. Seemed like a good idea to me! ha!
We started the 10 miles at 6:19 PM. Completed that in an easy 93 mins. Nice easy run. A little slow, but it felt good. But my legs/body felt pretty tired.
Now we had a 20k race. Paul was waiting with Bill, Mike and my race numbers. We had less then 10 mins before the race started. I ate part of an energy bar. Pinned my number to my shorts. Took off my shirt and walked to the starting line. I had a 30 second rest before it was go time!
First mile 8:11/mi pace. It felt reasonable. I could see Bill and Paul just a bit ahead of me. I thought about catching up, but decided to conserve some energy.
Mile 2 was 8:35/mi up and down a few little hills.
Mile 3 & 4 were 8:55/mi pace. I decided this was the pace I should run the rest of the race at. Just a nice steady pace.
Mile 5 & 6 were 9:30/mi pace. Ok I'll run this pace. It seems about right.
Mile 7 & 8 were 9:55/mi pace. I realized had actually run 17 & 18 miles now. No wonder I was tired. I also needed water really bad, but there wasn't any.
Mile 9 was a 10:26/mi pace. My left calf was cramping slightly. I finally got some water.
Mile 10 was 9:13/mi pace. I'd gotten enough water. I figured I'd just run this pace to the end. Maybe drop to 8:30 for mile 11 & 12. I had visions of passing a bunch of people I could see in the distance ahead of me.
Mile 11 & 12 were 10:17/mi pace as my left calf spasmed on the edge of cramming. Since it was just a muscle I knew continuing wasn't going to damage anything unless I fell on my face. No option of going faster.
I passed 3 people on the final 100 yards just for good measure. I told myself I was finishing 22.4 miles as they were finishing 12.4. So there!
Finished the 20k in 2 hours 30 seconds. It was a very sucky race!
My calf never completely cramped, but both spasmed after finishing for the next 15 mins as I drank some water, ate a banana, drank some root beer and munched a few cookies.
Bill, Mike and Paul ran great races!
I came home, showered and slept for 4 hours.
