20 miles sounded like a very long run, especially after the torturous 18 miles run two weeks ago. I woke up a couple of times the night before and it was raining heavily each time – not too encouraging. But the rain stopped in the morning, and temperature wise it was perfect. The strong wind was less so, and from mile 6 to 11 I was constantly running against an increasingly strong head wind. I suddenly got a stitch in my side, something that had never happened before since I started running in earnest. It was then that I got aware of my breathing. Instead of taking a breath every four steps I did so every three. I consciously changed my breathing pattern and the stitch disappeared. Apart from that there was no problem, I changed my running route from mile 13 to the finish to run in the woods toward Ard Na Sidhe, thus avoiding more wind.
Considering how long a run it was, I felt amazingly well, I was still running strong on the last mile. I was pretty tired for the rest of the day though, and today I’m quite stiff. Nevertheless, I’m pleased how well it went. There won’t be any longer runs than this for the rest of the training schedule (though there will be two more 20 milers), and to go through a run like this feeling fairly well is a tremendous confidence booster.
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