Miami Marathon 2018, A Training Run
I am one week away from my first 50 mile race.
50 miles. In one day. With no naps in the middle. Just start running and go until it's finished.
When I registered to run the Dunes 50, I thought that the race itself would be the highlight-- the pinnacle, the capstone. I didn't realize that the training-- the daily slog-- would be so momentous.
I continue to be surprised. Really surprised. Long runs, one 6 milers, have stretched and grown to 22 milers. Those same long runs were once preceded by a day of doing next to nothing and followed by a day off. Now they are chased by another 18 miler-or-so. Short runs, once 3 miles, are now 5 or 6. Shoot, it takes me 5 or 6 to feel warmed up.
I'm surprised. Who's body am I living in? How can it be that I (ME?!) can cover so much ground in a week. I don't really believe what Strava tells me I run in a week. If I wasn't tracking it myself, I would think I'm lying.
The truth is that anyone can do it. Well, anyone that wants it and is willing and able to put in the training for it. But let me get to the 2018 Miami Marathon...
I was supposed to do the half. But a few weeks out, I realized that on my journey to a 50 miler, a marathon with water and port-a-pots every mile or 2 would make for a perfect training run. (See, like that. Did I really just say that?!) So, I switched my registration to the full marathon.
This one was much different. Typically, for a marathon, there's 3-4 weeks of tapering in which the runner slowly backs down the milage to allow for the legs to rest and heal from the mile building journey they've just undertaken. There are nerves and excitement and pacing strategy.
Nope. I was annoyed that I had to rush down to Miami for packet pick-up (which was in a fabulous location with great vendors) and then rush up to Jupiter for my son's baseball game. And my only pacing strategy was to run conservatively and walk if I needed it. Actually, it was just to see how well my body (or really my mind) would tolerate a marathon the day after an 18 mile training run.
(Why would I do that, you ask? Well, in order to train for an ultra, it's smart to run long back to back runs. That gets your body-- and mind-- used to giving a long effort when it's already tired. And after 8 weeks of back to back long runs on the weekends, running with 20,000 or so of my new friends, is much more appealing than going alone.)
The first 5 miles were pretty terrible (see "it takes me 5 or 6 to get warmed up"). Then my left knee began to hurt for 10 miles or so. And my right calf felt tight. Of course, my mind began creating various scenarios involving compartment syndrome and surgeries, which did not help the aches to go away. By 18 (the dreaded "wall" mile), the aches turned into annoyance, which gradually faded as I cranked up my son's playlist to distract me. All the long runs were paying off. By mile 22, I was riding high on Generation UCan (a superstarch and my new favorite fuel). I've never felt so good during the late miles of a marathon. I was able to speed up (actually, the timing mats do not corroborate this, but at least I didn't slow down). I finished smiling. Happy to be finished, but not destroyed.
More posts about the Miami Marathon... 2016 and 2017
By the way, the Miami is a great race-- beautiful weather in January, sweet views, free race pics, AND this year we were given post-race snack boxes with a turkey sandwich, cookie, and other goodies.
50 miles. In one day. With no naps in the middle. Just start running and go until it's finished.
When I registered to run the Dunes 50, I thought that the race itself would be the highlight-- the pinnacle, the capstone. I didn't realize that the training-- the daily slog-- would be so momentous.
I continue to be surprised. Really surprised. Long runs, one 6 milers, have stretched and grown to 22 milers. Those same long runs were once preceded by a day of doing next to nothing and followed by a day off. Now they are chased by another 18 miler-or-so. Short runs, once 3 miles, are now 5 or 6. Shoot, it takes me 5 or 6 to feel warmed up.
I'm surprised. Who's body am I living in? How can it be that I (ME?!) can cover so much ground in a week. I don't really believe what Strava tells me I run in a week. If I wasn't tracking it myself, I would think I'm lying.
The truth is that anyone can do it. Well, anyone that wants it and is willing and able to put in the training for it. But let me get to the 2018 Miami Marathon...
I was supposed to do the half. But a few weeks out, I realized that on my journey to a 50 miler, a marathon with water and port-a-pots every mile or 2 would make for a perfect training run. (See, like that. Did I really just say that?!) So, I switched my registration to the full marathon.This one was much different. Typically, for a marathon, there's 3-4 weeks of tapering in which the runner slowly backs down the milage to allow for the legs to rest and heal from the mile building journey they've just undertaken. There are nerves and excitement and pacing strategy.
Nope. I was annoyed that I had to rush down to Miami for packet pick-up (which was in a fabulous location with great vendors) and then rush up to Jupiter for my son's baseball game. And my only pacing strategy was to run conservatively and walk if I needed it. Actually, it was just to see how well my body (or really my mind) would tolerate a marathon the day after an 18 mile training run.
(Why would I do that, you ask? Well, in order to train for an ultra, it's smart to run long back to back runs. That gets your body-- and mind-- used to giving a long effort when it's already tired. And after 8 weeks of back to back long runs on the weekends, running with 20,000 or so of my new friends, is much more appealing than going alone.)
The first 5 miles were pretty terrible (see "it takes me 5 or 6 to get warmed up"). Then my left knee began to hurt for 10 miles or so. And my right calf felt tight. Of course, my mind began creating various scenarios involving compartment syndrome and surgeries, which did not help the aches to go away. By 18 (the dreaded "wall" mile), the aches turned into annoyance, which gradually faded as I cranked up my son's playlist to distract me. All the long runs were paying off. By mile 22, I was riding high on Generation UCan (a superstarch and my new favorite fuel). I've never felt so good during the late miles of a marathon. I was able to speed up (actually, the timing mats do not corroborate this, but at least I didn't slow down). I finished smiling. Happy to be finished, but not destroyed.More posts about the Miami Marathon... 2016 and 2017
By the way, the Miami is a great race-- beautiful weather in January, sweet views, free race pics, AND this year we were given post-race snack boxes with a turkey sandwich, cookie, and other goodies.
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