Previous Long Run Recaps:
- Portland Marathon Training: 11 Miles
- Portland Marathon Training: 17 Miles
- Portland Marathon Training: 18 Miles
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This tweet pretty much sums up how I felt this morning.
I didn’t think I would be able to run 20 miles this morning because Friday morning when I tried to run, I had a terrible pain in my heel/arch that caused me to limp/walk 1.25 miles home and freak out that I had plantar fasciitis.
I decided to take Saturday/Sunday off from running and my game plan was that I would *try* to run today, but if my heel started hurting I would turn back immediately and hop on my bike for a long bike ride. I even had my bike strapped on to my car and was pretty much in the mindset that I was going to have to turn back. But I just wanted to test my foot out and see how it did.
I really needed a confidence building run after my 18-miler and 17-miler didn’t go to well.
As always, let’s backtrack to last night.
I made some cheese-stuffed tortellini pasta that I’d been saving for the night before my first 20-miler!
I’ve been on a Gilmore Girls kick this weekend so I crawled into bed around 8:30 with my laptop and Gilmore Girls and I finally went to sleep around 10. When my alarm went off at 5:30 AM I was already awake.
Can I just say how much I love the cooler weather? This morning when I left for my run it was cloudy, cool and 12 C (53 F) PERFECT running weather!
I started at the same trail I always start at, and by now I’ve ran that trail so many times the first 4 miles were kind of a blur. I honestly can’t really remember them at all!
Mile 1 – 10:56
Mile 2 – 10:45
Mile 3 – 10:40
Mile 4 – 10:55 – GU
Pace looks a little slow, hey!? Normally, that’s what I would be thinking too BUT when I started this run I promised myself I wouldn’t care about pace. I wanted my foot to feel OK and I wanted to finish 20 miles, and that was all that mattered to me.
Also, I have to tell you about how I ran into this lady at Mile 2, who had to HOLD HER DOG DOWN WITH HER BODY WEIGHT to keep it from attacking me. And she was not a small lady!!! The dog was snarling and growling at me and she actually had to get on top of it with her body to hold it on the ground!
I run into people walking their dogs all time when I’m running and I’m NEVER afraid because I love dogs and I get that sometimes young ones can be hyper so I don’t mind when they lunge at me or even give me a little bark, but this dog was snarling and it looked MEAN. I was scared! Seriously, some people need to train their dogs better or not walk them in public.
Moving on.
Instead of doing a bunch of weaving, zig-zagging and backtracking like I did on my 18-miler, I decided I was just going to do a straight out-and-back route today. Weaving around last time was mentally exhausting!
Mile 5 – 10:40
Mile 6 – 10:33
Mile 7 – 10:36
Mile 8 – 10:49 – GU
Today’s Route:
I loved the three miles out by the airport – it was so pretty and so nice. As you can see, the majority of my run was done straight through the city!
Mile 9 – 10:52
Mile 10 – 10:43
Mile 11 – 10:38
Mile 12 – 10:36 – GU
I stopped at the Kamloops Golf & Country Club around Mile 10 to go to the washroom and BBM Lisa!
I was feeling good!
The BACK part of an out-and-back is always so much easier. Even though I had 10 miles to go, the exact same distance I had just ran, it was on the way BACK to the car so seemed much easier. I think it’s a weird mental-runner thing.
Mile 13 – 10:58
Mile 14 – 10:48
Mile 15 – 10:29
Mile 16 – 10:32
By Mile 16 I was back on the trail that I run all the time and was ready to cruise back to my car! I pretty much zoned out the last four miles, just like the first four miles, because I run that trail at least twice a week! My feet were feeling REALLY achey at this point. Not injured-achey but you-just-ran-on-us-for-3.5-hours-and-we’re-SORE-achey. Ya know?! And even now I’m kind of limping around since they are still kind of achey. I think I’ll just stay off of them and then soak them in hot water tonight.
Mile 17 – 10:19
Mile 18 – 10:38
Mile 19 – 10:25
Mile 20 – 10:43
Overall Stats:
20 Miles – 3:33:25 – 10:41 pace
20-freaking-miles: DONE! And you wanna know the best part of all?
I totally felt like I could have ran another 6.2! I wasn’t totally trashed and exhausted at the end like with my 17-miler and 18-miler. Booyah! This was just the confidence-boosting run that I needed!!!
I then went and did my cold water treatment in the river (which was very cold today) and came home to shower and EAT! Oh, and I showered and foam rolled BEFORE writing this blog post today, aren’t ya proud of me!? 
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to lay in bed and watch Gilmore Girls all day!
Have you ever encountered a scary dog/animal when out running/walking? One time in high school I turned a corner running trails with my hockey friends and we were literally 20 feet away from a MOOSE and her calf! SCARY!
{ 33 comments… read them below or add one }
Whoo hoo! So glad you had a good long run today. I did a loop this morning–out and backs are hard for me.
Now go rest and recover!
=)
Aweome job AMBER!
Congrats!! That sounds like an awesome run and so glad that your foot is feeling better.
I hate the back part of the up and back runs. I always feel worse when I know I’m almost done than when I’m just heading out. I guess I’m more excited to get a run started then I am when I’m ready for it to be over.
Well done!! So proud of you. I kept checking my blackberry this morning and was so happy when over an hour had passed and I hadn’t heard from you.
I figured no news was good news!!
I am so glad you had a confidence-restoring 20 miler. Thinking back to my last marathon, my 20 miler rocked as well. I remember having not-so-great runs leading up to it, but my 20 went fabulous. I hope that happens again for me and that my 20 miler on Saturday goes as well as yours did! I love it when the miles are a blur!!
Oh, and on Sunday when I went for a run, 2 dogs came chasing after me. Their owners apparently did not have them on a leash and I was NOT happy about that. I like seeing dogs on a running path when they are on a leash and under the control of their owner. But 2 dogs chasing after me? It’s panick attack inducing since I am sort of afraid of dogs…
Yay! So glad it went well for you! I had the same problem with my feet. They just felt itchy and hurt afterwards but it went away…it was the same thing, just from being on them for 3.5 hours. I’m never scared of dogs but there are 2 German Shepards at a house I sometimes run by that I think would kill me. They are in a fence but I really think they’d be able to jump the fence if they wanted to.
Yikes, I was scared of dogs when I was little so I have to kind of talk myself out of being scared now as an adult. Only when they are mean and jumping near me though haha.
CONGRATS a million on your 20 miler! I’m so glad it went well and you deserve some serious Gilmore Girls time! I love that show too!
Awesome job, AMber! I think out and backs are the greatest because they force you to just do it! And it really pushes you to keep running so you can get back home sooner. That dog sounds intense. I’m not sure I’d take my dog out in public if it were so dangerous! Props to you for finishing the 20. I’m glad your foot wasn’t bothering you today!
congrats, that is freaking AWESOME!!! I was a distance swimmer growing up and through college and like you, I always felt like the back half was easier – it just goes by so much quicker. Congrats again – that’s a great run
omg you rocked that 20 miles! seriously 26.2 miles is gonna be a piece of cake for you! keeping it under 11 minutes per mile is truly truly amazing! proud of you girl!
Nice!! I did 20 miles today too. We are both major rockstars!
Congratulations on having such a great 20 miler! I am so glad that it went well for you. I knew you could rock it out!
That sounds like a very scary experience! I’ve been lucky not to experience anything scary like that. And congrats on the 20 miles! That’s awesome!!
funny that you thought the miles on the way back were easier, to me those are always the worst.
Way to go!!! Congrats!!
Congrats on the great run! That’s awesome!
You’re a rock star, lady! Good work!
OMG what an awesome run for you!
Once I went camping and climbed a sand dune only to come face to face with a BUCK! I promptly rolled down that dune and RAN!
Congrats on the 20 miler!! I’m so happy everything went well! What a great time for a confidence booster.
Funny you should talk about dogs, just the other day I got slightly bitten by a dog (or more like scratched with their teeth). I looove dogs but something about being around them when I’m running freaks me out and I always get really jumpy. I don’t know what it is. Anyways, you could tell this was a young, untrained dog and they came right over to me and like jumped on me. Scary.
I love that you love Gilmore Girls! Other than Friends that’s my favorite show!!
Wow, good for you! I am so in awe
I always find it odd when people take dangerous dogs out in public.
Well-done! You have this marathon in the bag!
I have been jumped on by a dog before – several times, actually- once a dog tried to bite and tore my shirt and the owners gave ME a dirty look!
WOW! I could only dream of running 20 miles. Way to go. And be careful of those mean dogs!!! That’s scary. That lady should consider giving that dog away or into some type of training
Wow girl!!!! What a way to finish!!!!! You did GREAT!!!!!!!!!
That dog encounter sounds really scary. When my hubby was doing the half Ironman about a month ago, he saw a dog run out in front of a girl when she was on her bike. She wiped out BAD. Dogs should not be allowed to come to races – in my opinion. It is too dangerous.
Way to go, your 20 miles reminds me that my injury only allowed me a 10 mile long run on Sat
, and the Portland Marathon is only5 weeks away-I’m going for 14 this Sat, then 18, and a 20 somewhere in there.
I’m new to the running blogging world, and also training for 10.10.10-Thanks for a great blog, and an inspiring post. Its nice to find other people on the same count down as I am. Keep up the good work.
I’m so excited for you!!! I was looking forward to reading this post when I saw your tweet this morning. Because of you & being inspired to learn to love running, I am going to sign up for a 5K in November.
So so SO proud of you!!!
Congratulations, sugar pie. I am extremely proud of you.
Yes!! You did amazing, congratulations Amber!!
You’re so ready for this, I’m so excited for you & I wish I could be there to cheer you on!
Way to go, Amber! I knew you could do it and I am SO HAPPY this run boosted your confidence for the marathon because it’s going to help so much throughout this month. And I’m super glad to hear your foot didn’t cause you any problems, yay!
WooHoo!! Great job on the 20 miler! It is the best when you feel good at the end of a long run! Well done!
YAYYYYY!!!! Feeling awesome when you get back from a run totally rocks! You are so ready for your marathon and you are going to do such a great job on race day!
way to go!!! there is nothing so amazing a the feeling of doing what you weren’t sure that you could!! Crazy dogs really scare the poo out of me, at least the lady restrained her’s
You’re an inspiration Amber – keep up the fantastic work!
Way to go, lady! That is SO EXCITING! And reading this reminds me that I need to get my act together so I can make it through my first half!