Let’s be honest, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen 21. I believe the last time was 2014. Oh you thought I meant years? I meant miles.
I believe I ran a 20 while training for Grandma’s Marathon last year but since I DNF’d, I never saw that 20+ mile struggle. That puts the last time I ran over 20 miles back to 2014 at the ironman. I will say I missed the really long runs. There’s something super gratifying about pushing yourself to distances you haven’t run in a while (or ever).
So yes. I ran 21 miles on Sunday! I was ready for it. I ate a good dinner, got to bed early (even though I was on my feet most of the morning Saturday handing out medals at Best Damn Race), and got up nice and early to eat and mentally prepare. Mentally prepare means read EOnline and think about how early it is.
I had put out a social media request for run buddies the week of, so that I could have friendly faces to run with. Twenty-one miles can be so boring when you aren’t in race mode. Fortunately, my friend Michelle had 18 and another friend, Eva, was kind enough to get up at 5 AM to meet me for her first three of five miles. Other friends Dow, Michael, and Jamie met us somewhere along the way so I didn’t run a single mile alone. It. Was. Fantastic.
Know what else was fantastic? Oh, just those may-jah negative splits I hit. I’m thrilled to have had such a great long run. I really needed this confidence boost heading into the home stretch of marathon training. I haven’t quite decided on a goal yet. I’m still of two minds on this. Do I want to go all in or do I want to be more conservative? I’m going to have a good long chat with Coach Mason on Sunday and see what we can come up with.
I got my bib and corral number and there’s only 18 days to go until Rock N Roll New Orleans! Let’s hope this cold weather hangs around until then. Happy Fat Tuesday!
I've got all my fingers and toes and hairs and eyes crossed in hopes that you'll get good weather for your race! You've so got this.
Cool! Good job getting those long miles in. My normal 20 mile route has got some construction that's forcing it into 21 miles. And for ultra training, back to back long runs are the key so pretty soon I'm going to have to do that 21'er on both Saturday and sunday. ugh. now I need a friend.
Great job!!! You are going to rock your race!! <3
Hooray!!! So glad this run went well for you, and it is another reason why the running community is so great and special. It's a big month for you!!! Woo hoo! xo
Yay! Nice running! You're ready to crush 26.2, my friend!