Sunday workout: 20 miles, 3:01, 9:05 pace
HOLYOMIGOD, we ran 20 miles at a sub four pace. I know it’s a long shot that we will be able to run the marathon that fast (We can’t all be OUaL) but I am so happy/proud. This is also the longest run to date so double heck yes!
I did everything right. We started out at a 9:30 pace and I told myself that if we still felt fresh at 12 or so, we would pick it up. Well, we finished at an 8:00 pace.
The family is on vacation, to us. Since we live in sunny San Diego, my sister, hubs and two kids came out to visit for a week and my Dad decided to jump on and come down as well.
It’s really cozy in our apt. at the moment but we are loving the family time. I have no idea how mom’s find time to blog. Forreal, you guys are crazy. HRM, I’m looking at you, where do you find the time?
I’ve been MIA for a week, prepping for family to come, and spending time with said family. Now I have a huge backlog of amazing stuff to tell everyone.
Not to mention the fact that I destroyed my iPhone about a week ago AND changed banks. I was moneyless (no ATM card and funds on hold because I had just opened an account?), phoneless, and scrambling to get my life in order. It was one effing hectic week.
Many updates to come soon.
I deffo DO NOT want to go to work tomorrow.
Questions for all you marathoners:
If I ran a sub-4 pace today, should I even THINK about trying for that on race day? This is my first marathon.
My knees and legs were HURTING, like the bones hurt by mile 18 and those last 2 miles were tough, is this normal?
My energy was good, but my body was not. Could this be a sign of needing new shoes, or is this just what happens if you run nonstop on concrete for 3 hours?
p.s. Thank you to everyone who cheered me on and told me I could do this run ❤ it helped.
prettyfittie 
AMAZING run! I am in awe! You totally killed it! My longest run to date is 15 miles but I have a feeling 20 will be on my radar in the spring with my first marathon in May. Eek. How do you mentally get over the fact that 20 miles is effing far!!!
I have no idea how the miles keep going up but I keep doing them. Sometimes someone says “Do you realize you ran farther than my morning commute?” or something like that and it hits me. I just worked my way up slowly and now I feel like I can do anything. I used to hate the idea of an ultra, but it’s probably going to be on my bucket list eventually ;-).
Awesome job!!! You totally rocked it!
For my last marathon, I ran 3 20’s, all between 9:07 – 9:26 pace. I ended up with a 4:16 marathon, but my stomach was a freaking wreck due to 80* heat and I lost at least 8min due to porta potty stops. The point of this is YES SUB 4. Your 20 was faster than mine…and you will likely NOT have 80* heat + stomach issues. If the stars align, sub 4 is totally possible! How many more 20’s are you doing?
I think new shoes are in order. How many miles do yours have?
You are a killer runner…you are going to rock this marathon!
That was my only 20! It’s taper time, I could possibly do one more this weekend and then taper for 2 weeks instead of 3 because my training wasn’t really high mileage but I’m hesitant!!! Fingers crossed for me!
Just started reading your blog. You can do it girl! I recently completed my first 1/2 marathon and did not train properly. Oops…but I ran the whole thing and that was my only goal. 🙂 Go into the race with your Sub 4 goal and know that you can do it. You seem like you’ve trained properly which should give you even more confidence. You rock!! You’re gonna do awesome!!! You’re gonna kill your goal I think!! 😉
Good luck! The last six miles are a complete wild card, but you definitely have a sub-4 in you. Just try really really really hard to not start out too fast (it took me about 5 marathons to finally learn this lesson). Oh, and don’t do another 20 this weekend. You are better off riding the high of this one through to race day. How you feel mentally coming off that distance is as important (if not more) than how you feel physically. And yes, the aches and pains are normal. GOOD LUCK on race day!! And if you don’t sub-4, no biggie.. it will be a PR no matter what 😉
Yeeaaaaahhhhhh girl! So so so proud of you!!! WOOOHOOO! Is P running Vegas?
So I heard the first half of Vegas can get windy, the second half on the strip not as bad. I am praying for no wind or wind at our backs!! I would say goal to finish second half faster than first. I think you can totally go sub 4. You were so smart on your run yesterday (unlike me, sigh) and if you run the marathon that way you will KILL IT. KILL IT!!!! YESSS!
P/S I am going to do at least one more 18-20ish because although my weekly miles have been high I am worried about my long runs (HEAD CASE RUNNER). So am tapering weekly miles but will sneak one more in before tapering to 13 then 10 then…RACE DAY!!!
KICK ASS RUN, ASH!!! So happy for you! Way to redeem after that crummy one a few weeks ago.
If you felt good (remember, “good” in marathon terms is relative. “good” = not dying) at 9:05 you can for sure bust 4 hours. You can count on running a few sec/mi faster race day just from adrenaline, but if you run a smart race I think you can for sure.
Running that long is always going to hurt. If your form is good and your shoes are fresh it should just be achey joint pain. I take 2 ibuprofen before 18+ mile runs but don’t think that’s recommended by docs for some reason. Ulcers or failing kidneys or something.
Probably somebody with REAL know-how that has run more than ONE smart race should come shut my mouth for me.
All I know is that run HAD to have given you the biggest boost – being confident going in is key! Ride that endorphin wave all the way to Vegas, girl 🙂
Great job!!! That’s an amazing accomplishment, you’re gonna ROCK that race!
My marathons are usually faster than my training runs, which are typically about 20 miles. I always recommend A, B, C goals though. I train in Newtons and race in Newtons. About the fatigue… yeah, I usually have that too. Just be sure that you are fueling during your training runs AND your first marathon so you don’t bonk… I ran my first one a year ago, and my goal for that one was to finish (for me I was hoping to go under 5 hours) and to not hate running afterwards. More than anything, you just want to have fun. (But yes, I think if you can train 20 miles at that pace, you can probably do a marathon at that pace). GOOD LUCK!! Vegas is pretty flat, so a great place to do it.
Great advice! I plan on fueling every 45 min during the race just to be safe!