First 20 Miler Since May

I ran 20.05 yesterday. Miguel said this was going to be a 75 mile week, and a tough one. So far he's not kidding. Anyway he said to start at an 8:20 pace and pick it up throughout the run and finish at a 7:40-7:50. It was 76 at the start and 85 at the end, and believe me, I felt that heat.

My first 7.17 miles was at an average pace of 8:06/mile.
My second 7.38 miles was at an average pace of 7:54/mile.
My last 4.5 was at an average pace of 7:45/mile.
The overall pace for the 'working' part of the run was 7:56/mile average.
Mile 20 was my cool down mile, which I walked a 1/4 of because I was so cramped!

I practiced drinking a higher concentration of sports drink. I also took 2 GU's. Overall my carbohydrate intake during the run was 200 grams. My fluid intake was about 20-25 ounces per hour, mostly in the form of sports drink. I definitely needed more electrolytes (i.e.: more sports drink). I washed the GU's down with water. The calf cramps attacked fiercely at mile 18-1/2, so it was just the last half mile of the first 19 that I had to battle them... but then they stuck around big time for the cool down mile. Seriously, ouch.

I was glad I was able to complete the task the way Miguel prescribed! He was happy too. He sent me an email from where he's altitude training (Mammoth Lakes) and he was very excited (I think surprised) that I was able to do it. Anyway, after this week I have two weeks of taper like running in preparation for the San Francisco Half Marathon on August 3rd.

This morning I ran 6.7 miles recovery and I'll do 3.3 this afternoon. Another recovery day tomorrow, and then a tough tempo interval workout on Friday. Wooohoooo, can't wait. (I'm rolling my eyes as I type that, but I actually am kind of excited for it).

Have a good week!