Yesterday I ran my second 16-miler. It was about 10 degrees warmer at the outset of my run, which I noticed right away. Not sure if this affected my running ability or not. Things were uneventful up until mile 8, where I caught up with Alex who ran with me for the remainder of the 16 miles (thank you, Alex!). I can't even articulate how helpful it's been to have my friends show up and run with me. It makes all the difference in the world.
I had a very difficult time from miles 12-16. I tried to explain to Alex that it almost feels like the skin all over my body is screaming. I get irritable, really irritable. Every cell in my body is begging me to stop. I feel like I'm losing it. Mentally, what my brain is thinking cannot catch up to what my mouth is speaking. I lose track of my words mid-sentence, which I find fascinating (it took me four attempts to sound out the word "specifically" - LOL). Does this mean all the glycogen has been depleted from my brain? Just when I think I have nuthin' left, the 16-miles are over. So for the marathon, I only have to run 10 ADDITIONAL MILES. Yeah, no problem.
The good news is that my recovery has been much quicker. My legs are barely sore at all today. I've been stopping several times throughout the long run to stretch my calves, hamstrings, and quads, and it feels like that's been helping. My knee feels good today.
**** Whenever I start to complain to myself about how HARD it is doing these long runs, I have to remind myself - it's NOT SUPPOSED TO be easy. This is why barely a fraction of 1% of the population attempts to run a marathon. This is also why the payoff is so great.
Here's a link to the full Garmin Report if you're interested.
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