That's how I named the run today. Back up 24 hours...
Miller came to Nashville to watch the Brown County Semi-State. After the race we met up at McDonald's to eat lunch and talk a bit, and the conversation soon turned to today's run. I related I needed to get a 20-miler in today, and he offered to run it with me. Never mind he'd run 40 miles the day before (that's 40 miles, not kilometers) - he was willing to go. We talked about courses and times. Inside, I hated the idea of a Double-Dear, but the alternative was... Buddha?
"No way, no way I'm doing Buddha" I told him. He sat there silently looking at me. I don't know if it was because he didn't know where the comment came from or if he knew what would follow - both are equally possible. "Okay, screw it, I'll do Buddha!"
All that was left was time. He couldn't tell me when before checking with WinD, so all I could do was start wrapping my mind around the where. The when would come later.
We landed on 7 AM. There was a bit of time constraint due to church and our expected slower pace, so we set it up in parts and stayed in town. That worked out better anyway because it was pitch-black outside. So... we started the Dear Loop.
The pace was a bit slow, but that was expected. My hips hurt, but I hoped that would change over the first few miles. Right away I noticed I was leading out here and there, something I really didn't need to do. Noticing Miller, I fell back in line. The brain won this time, because the realization was if anyone knew pace, it had to be the guy running 150 miles per week.
The first 10 flew by pretty quickly. Near the end of the first loop, Miller started picking up the pace. We'd started the first 5 miles in the 8:05 range... by the end of 10 we were at 7:55. What would the second loop bring?
Miller needed to be done by 9:30, giving him time for 8 more miles. I took him on the Optimist 8 to give us options. I might have picked the course, but he picked the pace. Right away the pace dropped down to the 7:30-7:40 range. Maybe he was warmed up, or maybe he was trying to squeeze in as much as possible - either way I was game to give it a shot. I'd wanted to press the pace on this run to see if a sub-3:30 marathon was realistic. I'd been thinking a 7:50 overall pace would be a good target, though I hadn't told him this. As it turned out, we were quickly headed that way.
Here's the weird part... as the first 10 ended, I'd begun to notice a pinch in my neck. As we did the next loop and picked up the pace, I completely loosened up. Even my hips felt better. By midway through the second loop I was dialed in and coasting. There wasn't much talking anymore, but I wouldn't call it difficult in any way. After dropping Miller off at 18 I even considered running 26 total. I decided things had gone pretty well, no reason to get greedy.
Of course the rest of the day the hips were tight, but other than a little fatigue, I feel great. This was a great confidence booster, and I know now I can and should run a BQ. Thank you Miller for a great run!
Miller came to Nashville to watch the Brown County Semi-State. After the race we met up at McDonald's to eat lunch and talk a bit, and the conversation soon turned to today's run. I related I needed to get a 20-miler in today, and he offered to run it with me. Never mind he'd run 40 miles the day before (that's 40 miles, not kilometers) - he was willing to go. We talked about courses and times. Inside, I hated the idea of a Double-Dear, but the alternative was... Buddha?
"No way, no way I'm doing Buddha" I told him. He sat there silently looking at me. I don't know if it was because he didn't know where the comment came from or if he knew what would follow - both are equally possible. "Okay, screw it, I'll do Buddha!"
All that was left was time. He couldn't tell me when before checking with WinD, so all I could do was start wrapping my mind around the where. The when would come later.
We landed on 7 AM. There was a bit of time constraint due to church and our expected slower pace, so we set it up in parts and stayed in town. That worked out better anyway because it was pitch-black outside. So... we started the Dear Loop.
The pace was a bit slow, but that was expected. My hips hurt, but I hoped that would change over the first few miles. Right away I noticed I was leading out here and there, something I really didn't need to do. Noticing Miller, I fell back in line. The brain won this time, because the realization was if anyone knew pace, it had to be the guy running 150 miles per week.
The first 10 flew by pretty quickly. Near the end of the first loop, Miller started picking up the pace. We'd started the first 5 miles in the 8:05 range... by the end of 10 we were at 7:55. What would the second loop bring?
Miller needed to be done by 9:30, giving him time for 8 more miles. I took him on the Optimist 8 to give us options. I might have picked the course, but he picked the pace. Right away the pace dropped down to the 7:30-7:40 range. Maybe he was warmed up, or maybe he was trying to squeeze in as much as possible - either way I was game to give it a shot. I'd wanted to press the pace on this run to see if a sub-3:30 marathon was realistic. I'd been thinking a 7:50 overall pace would be a good target, though I hadn't told him this. As it turned out, we were quickly headed that way.
Here's the weird part... as the first 10 ended, I'd begun to notice a pinch in my neck. As we did the next loop and picked up the pace, I completely loosened up. Even my hips felt better. By midway through the second loop I was dialed in and coasting. There wasn't much talking anymore, but I wouldn't call it difficult in any way. After dropping Miller off at 18 I even considered running 26 total. I decided things had gone pretty well, no reason to get greedy.
Of course the rest of the day the hips were tight, but other than a little fatigue, I feel great. This was a great confidence booster, and I know now I can and should run a BQ. Thank you Miller for a great run!
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