18.52 Mile Run - Saturday 10/8

This morning's long run was unlike any other run I have had this year. The main reason for this is that I had to map my run after running it, thanks to one of the biggest catastrophes that can happen in the running world. I aimed for 18, and I ended up going for exactly 18.52 miles. Regardless of not knowing how far I was going, it was one of the strongest runs I had, and my body feels great.

Last weekend, I purchased some of the final pieces of my running outfit for marathon day: a long-sleeve shirt and running tights from the Under Armour factory outlet. It was my goal to complete at least one long run in this attire before race day, or else I would not attempt to wear it. Because today's weather matched so perfectly the predicted weather for race day, I threw on my new clothes. To complete the outfit, I wore some gloves and an ear warmer.

On Thursday, I received the best early birthday present a runner could ask for: the Garmin Forerunner 405. (Thanks, Jason! ☺) This fancy piece of equipment gives runners everything they need to venture out on their long runs. It tells you how far and how long you have run and the change in elevation of your run. It allows you to set a pace beforehand (gives you a "virtual partner") and tells you how far in front or behind the pace you are. If you want, you can wear the heart rate monitor included around your chest, and it will tell you how hard your heart is working. Needless to say, this is every runner's dream tool, and it eliminated my need to map my run beforehand. I even took the map that I carried in my water bottle from last week's run and left it home.

For a few reasons, I pushed a good pace - about 30 to 45 seconds per mile faster than my normal long run. In fact, it was about on pace with a 5 or 6 miler that I would run during the week. I think this was because I could see exactly how well I was doing thanks to my new Garmin. Also, the thought that this would be one of the final times crossing the streets of Arlington and DC before race day gave me a little extra surge of energy.

After crossing the 14th Street Bridge, I rounded the Tidal Basin and wanted to go into the MLK Memorial. On the sign, it said something along the lines of "No Bikes, No Smoking, No Pets, No Running." Good thing I caught the "No Running" part of that sign! As soon as I saw that, I backtracked out of there and continued along my way west toward the Potomac River.

Even though my GPS watch gave me free reign, I stuck to trails that I knew were safe and would not make me stop because of traffic. I suppose this is because I knew what my pace was, and I didn't want that to suffer. After going past the MLK Memorial, I hopped onto the Rock Creek Park trails and up north toward the Georgetown Marina. I did my normal run up 31st Street, NW, and onto M Street. While on M Street, there were not too many people out - a huge surprise, because it was such a gorgeous morning. Two items of note on M Street: first, it is not pleasant to run along a trail in relatively cold weather and see a man power washing large windows. I might as well have run into a waterfall. Luckily, I caught sight of this ahead of time and ran off the sidewalk for about ten seconds. Second, men can be pigs. I am running and, with nobody else in sight, some dude whistles at me. I am not sure what he was trying to accomplish, because I certainly didn't look attractive while running and was not going to stop to make out with him, so the futility of this action kind of made me laugh. I crossed the Key Bridge into Rosslyn and saw some of the Arlington Road Runners at their base camp. They were doing 10 miles starting around 7 a.m., so it was no surprise to see some of them back at camp.

My thoughts drifted, and I lost some time, and then, as I was running south along the Mount Vernon Trail, I thought about how it had been a while since I heard a beep from my watch. I looked down, and the unthinkable had happened. My watch had run out of power. I felt like I was going to throw up. I quickly scrambled to see if it had just been idle; I tried every way I could to turn it back on, but nothing would work. Then, I tried to remember the last thing that the watch had said when I saw it. I thought it said 7 miles in Georgetown (turns out I was right), but I had no idea how far I had run since then. I saw a lady running a little ahead of me, and she had a watch on. I caught up to her, asked her what time it was, and she told me 9:08. At this point, I was nearing the 14th Street Bridge again. I thought, what better time to run Hains Point than when I feel completely detached from my running lifelines? This would give me great practice for the marathon. With a little calculation, I figured that running Hains Point and coming back home could hit me at the right distance, and should hit me at about 10:30 a.m.

Hains Point is normally pretty lonely - less so when it's prime season and runners are training there. I am guessing that a lot of people's fall races were this weekend (such as the Chicago Marathon), because it was pretty empty today. As I was nearing the southern tip of the point, I noticed a runner guy and girl coming at me. The runner girl was smiling, and as she approached me, she did more than just the normal wave. She stuck her hand out, so I high-fived her! That provided a little bit of a rush in an otherwise barren land.

One more exciting thing did happen as I was heading north along Hains Point. Along the Waterfront across the Anacostia, I heard an unmistakable blaring: a public exercise class was going on. A guy was on a microphone, and he was giving upbeat orders: Step up! Go down! Two more! Work it! etc., etc. There's something you don't hear on every run.

Pretty soon, I was out of Hains Point. I wanted to try and find someone with a watch. Thankfully, as I was rounding the Jefferson Memorial, I found 3 runners and asked them what time it was. They said 9:55. Looks like I had timed it perfectly, because I know that from the DC side of the George Mason Bridge back to my apartment is about 3.2 miles. I didn't need to run any more around DC; I would cross the bridge and go home.

I continued to think about how this would be one of my final runs on these DC trails, the trails that had seen me through many, many miles of my training. I was filled with a spirit of gratitude for making it this far, and for the trails being (mostly) forgiving on me. I thought about my friend Sarah, whose wedding day is today, and how she told me that my training for a marathon is very similar to the engagement period before a wedding. Today very much seemed like my dress rehearsal, which could explain why I had a bit more energy today.

As soon as I got home, I began to map my run. Then, I went with some friends to get lunch, and I finished up mapping my run - still feeling great. As it turns out, I was right about Georgetown, and I hit everything pretty well. I aimed to hit 18.2 miles, and I went over by 0.32. At least that's better than being under by a lot! I'd like to say that my pace had a little to do with being over by this much, because I definitely felt faster today - and I felt strong. It was a good run all around, aside from not knowing how far I went until after it was done.

Now that this run is down, today commences taper time! The taper is the period before a big race - about 3 weeks out -  when running is cut down significantly to allow the body to rest and repair itself, and to allow carbs to be stored in the muscles in preparation for the big day.

Oftentimes, running is a metaphor for other parts of life (such as the engagement mentioned above), but sometimes running is a metaphor for running. My lesson from today is that, even if I have the best equipment, my success will be unpredictable if the equipment isn't charged. Today, I saw that with my watch, but in taper time, I need to remember that my success on marathon day will determine on how much sleep and rest I allow my body to have. This is the way that I will be successful. All of the hard training is under my belt, and now it is time to (properly) rest and relax.