September 6 - 22
September 6 - rest. I went to the running store and picked up the Saucony Hurricanes.
September 7 - 5 miles with Magic Mile. Since it's still summer in Florida, I did a half mile in 5 minutes flat, which equates to a 10:18 magic mile. Only a few seconds faster than my last one, but I'll take it! One of my goals for this year is to get below a 10 minute mile, but I'm not even thinking about that until it gets cooler. In the afternoon, we went to Epcot for Food and Wine.
September 8 - 2 mile progression walk. Did this on the treadmill so I could try my new shoes. Walked a total of 2.07 miles in 40 minutes. I'm working on upping my walking cadence to improve my speed.
September 9 - Tempo run. I tried 30/30 for the first mile (12:34) and 40/20 for the second mile (11:43). 40/20 seems easier than 60/30, but still isn't my favorite.
September 10 - Upper body strength workout.
September 11 - Drills and Tempo run. For the tempo mile (11:51), I alternated 60/30 and 30/30 ratios, and this worked really well for me. This was my first run with my new shoes, and I really liked them. Also did a quick leg workout.
September 12 - Rest. I went to the movies that night, so I missed my strength workout. I saw The Long Walk, which made me really appreciate being able to stop during a race whenever you want! I used to be afraid of DNFing, but now, it's no big deal.
September 13 - We went to my moms this day to stay overnight and celebrate her birthday, so I did 800 repeats before leaving. This went well, and I hit all my paces. Also did this run in the Hurricanes.
September 14 - Rest (though not really). Being at my mom's is very stressful lately due to her health issues, so I didn't feel up to doing a strength workout when I got home.
September 15 - 2 mile progression walk. Finished in 39:42.
September 16 - Tempo run. Again, I alternated 60/30 and 30/30. (I set my timer for 30/30, and just run through one of the beeps.) Mile 1 was 11:56 and mile 2 was 11:41. It still felt good, but I started wondering how I could keep that pace for a 10k. Being faster than that for a POT seems impossible right now. Hopefully I'll get there eventually. I also did a lower body workout.
September 17 - Core workout.
September 18 - Hills and drills run.
September 19 - I missed my strength workout because my kid had a playdate after school and we stayed way longer than I expected. So I got an unexpected "rest" day. (Not really, because again, things are stressful with my mom.)
September 20 - "rest" day. We went to the first day of Brick or Treat at
Legoland. Probably not the best choice on the day before a 20 mile long run, but my kid had fun collecting candy.
September 21 - 20 mile long run. Whew boy. I was scared about this one. I did 17 miles 3 weeks ago, so I don't know why 3 extra miles is so intimidating. Maybe it's the round number? Starting with a 2? Anyway, I was nervous. It doesn't help that it's still SO HOT. I understand now why the Galloway method has you run these insanely long training runs, because after finishing this run in 80 degree weather, I feel like I can do anything! I kept up my intervals throughout the entire run and didn't stop to walk extra, with the exception of skipping a few run intervals when I was in the full sun or going uphill. I started with 15/30 ratio, but eventually switched to 30/60 because the longer intervals felt better the longer I was out there.
Good:
My fueling was ON POINT. I did a mini carb load the day before, basically making sure I had a lot of carb-heavy snacks and soft drinks (Sprite is my go-to) but not really keeping track on anything. I had a breakfast treat cookie before the run. During the run, I had one soft flask filled with 3 scoops of Tailwind (1 flavored and 2 naked), and one soft flask filled with water. I refilled Tailwind twice, so 9 scoops all together (although I didn't quite finish the third flask), and refilled the water 4-ish times. (It was hot, so I drank a lot). I also had an applesauce pouch every hour or so, and another breakfast treat when I came back to my house for a cooling stop. I didn't bonk or feel hungry, and I didn't get any GI distress. I didn't have to go to the bathroom ONCE (even to pee)! I did feel slightly nauseous toward the end of my run, but I'm chalking that up to the heat.
No chafing or other problems with my clothes. I continue to love my Janji shorts and Crowned sports bras. I wore one of my 32 degree tees that go well with my running vest. Airpods and watch stayed charged.
Neutral:
I stopped 5 times for a total of 40-ish minutes. Obviously I won't be doing this during a race, but I took my time to cool off whenever I went inside.
I was definitely tired and took a nap in the afternoon, but I didn't feel nearly as beat up as I did after the marathon. (Obviously that was more miles, but 20 is still a lot!)
Bad:
While my new shoes felt really comfortable on the bottom of my feet, I did get blisters on my big toes. The right one hurt a lot in the second half of the race, so I sat down on the curb outside Walgreens and took off my socks and readjusted the shoes. After that, they felt a lot better. (Of course, I didn't bring any band aids or KT tape, and didn't feel like going back inside Walgreens. So I've added those to my long run supplies.) The good news is that the blisters don't bother me much today, so I should be able to run tomorrow with no problem.
As for the cause - on my last long run, I tried taping my big toes, and I didn't get any blisters. I didn't do that this time around, so I'm going to go back to it for my next long run. (A half marathon in October.) Unfortunately, with the shape of my feet (I have bunions) I get blisters on my big toes no matter what shoes/socks I wear. (Before you suggest toe socks, I've tried them, and they're too big for my small feet.)
Regardless of all that - I finished! As soon as my watch hit 20 miles I went to cheer, but it came out as a very load groan instead.

Total time - 4:58:41, avg pace 14:56
Elapsed time - 5:43:05 (told you I took advantage of cooling off

)
September 22 (today): Was supposed to do a progression walk, but switched to Arms since I wanted to give my legs a little extra rest.
These next few weeks are going to be pretty stressful. Thankfully, I have races coming up to keep me occupied. This Saturday is the Margaritaville 10k, my first race since April! I'm not sure what my goal will be for this race. It's still way too hot to even consider a PR, so I'm debating between aiming for marathon or half marathon pace. I might just try alternating the 60/30 and 30/30 intervals according to feel and just see what that gets me.
In 3 weeks, I have the Amelia Island half marathon. I'll probably aim for marathon pace for that one.