Kenyan Way Long Run #5 - Back with the Group

22.15 miles, 2:55:24, 7:55 pace, Avg HR = 144 (zone 3.6), Max HR = 162

I've been out of town or otherwise occupied during the last several weekends and couldn't run with the Kenyan Way group for my long runs. In fact I was supposed to leave Friday night for Baton Rouge and skip yet another KW group run, but the thought of running 22 miles alone intimidated me enough to delay my drive to Baton Rouge so I could run with KW.

I picked up about 6.5 miles with an informal, early group at 5AM, and met up with the official group at their 6AM start. The KW long runs are geared for the Houston marathon training distances, and those of us running other marathons often have longer or shorter runs scheduled. The group that shows up early usually needs to pick up a few extra miles, which was the case for me.

I wanted to run my long run between 8:00 and 8:15 per mile, and the early group was a little slow for my taste (8:46 pace). I made the decision to meet up with the 3 hour marathon training group in order to make up time. I figured I'd stick with them as long as I could, and then re-join my normal spot with the 3:15 pace group. I surprised myself and ended up sticking it out with the 3 hour group the whole time. It was obvious to me that I was outclassed, but they offered great encouragement and told me to come back and run with them going forward.

Highlights:
1) Mostly Negative Splits
2) Overall 7:55 pace includes water stops (adjusted "moving" pace = 7:53)
3) Last 6 miles run at 7:08 pace
4) Ran Ahead of the group for the last three miles (7:04 pace)
5) My legs were really tired, but otherwise pain-free at the end of the run
6) This is my longest run EVER!

Why I was able to turn in such a strong performance:
1) The weather was great (59 degrees)
2) Running with a group that's faster than you makes you faster (and the inverse might also be true)
3) I wanted to test myself to see if an 8:00 pace was a reasonable goal for a marathon, so I ran harder than normal

Other important notes (important to me, probably not to important to you)
1) I REALLY stuffed myself with Mediterranean food (mostly carbohydrates) for lunch on Friday, and ate a normal portion of spaghetti and tomato sauce for dinner.
2) I hydrated really well all Friday
3) I ate a tablespoon of peanut butter and drank about 16 ounces of Accelerade for breakfast
4) I ate three strawberry Clif Shot Blocks during the run (about every 6 miles) when my stomach felt empty
5) I drank only water during the run . . . about four ounces every 3 miles. My post-race weigh-in was about 4 pounds lighter than my pre-run weight, so I need to drink a bit more water to minimize that differential.

Afterwards Julie drove me to Baton Rouge (so I could sleep along the way) for the LSU versus Auburn game. It was a really exciting game, which I've come to expect when those two titans clash. I sat in the student section, and by "sat" I mean "stood the whole game." This was after walking around campus all day to tailgate. For future reference I'll try to arrange some more down time after long runs. But if the LSU Tigers could go 12 rounds against the Auburn, then I wasn't going to let them down by sitting while everyone else offered their support by standing.

LSU won 30-24 on a touchdown pass that left one second on the clock. Geaux Tigers!

9:11, 8:41, 8:26, 8:05, 7:51,
8:56, 8:18, 7:55, 8:38, 7:54,
8:25, 7:53, 8:18, 7:33, 8:06,
7:39, 7:26, 7:08, 7:04, 6:57,
7:08, 7:08