20 Miles Done!

This weekend was pretty uneventful bc I had my first 20 miler ever. It is my last double digit run before my marathon.

I spend Friday hydrating and eating. Matt made my usual pre long run dinner and it is always so good! I had hot tea the rest of the evening bc I was freezing and Jager agreed.

I woke Saturday and had my usual salted cashews and a packet of Welch's fruit snacks and was on my way to Shelley Lake. I was very overwhelmed about doing 20 miles, so I broke it up in my mind into four five milers and that helped. I also did short videos for every five miles on instagram (JenHaught) and that was kinda fun.

I was doing decent the first 15 miles, but then I got very tired and my legs were heavy. I think I pushed too hard in the beginning. I'm VERY nervous bc I'm super slow and I have a six hour course limit. I'm a super slow runner and my finishing time was concerning: 

I have a few weeks to make adjustments but I will be livid as myself if I get disqualified. Fingers crossed for me, but I'm worried. I think I will change my intervals from 3:1 to 2:1, maybe I'm tiring out bc of that? 

I will share some pictures from my run. I saw a group of people in kayaks cleaning up the area and I thought that was great. The last picture is a picture of McDonald's and man it was hard to pass that place FOUR times and not stop. I was over cashews and fruit snacks and ran out of water at mile 15.

Here are my five mile times, I just got slower and slower and slower: 

All and all I felt well on my 20 miler. My knees didn't bother me, but I had a issue with the inside of my left foot, my right ankle and finally a killer cramp in my left calf. At the end of my 20, I felt that I could go further, but I just don't know how fast.

I treated myself to an amazing dinner and it was cooked by my very understanding husband:

Matt also hung up my poster while I was gone on my run and I love it. My ultimate goal is to qualify for Boston by the time I'm 40, so this is a great daily reminder.

I can't believe this marathon is only a month away! Wish me luck!