Twenty Freaking Miles

Here are twenty pointers for this Saturday's run.

1. We have three twenty mile runs scheduled over the next six weeks. This is not a prescription that everyone must follow. Some of you may not be ready for a 20 miler yet, either because you are new to marathoning or because of injury. IF YOU HAVE ANY DOUBTS ABOUT WHETHER OR NOT YOU SHOULD RUN 20 THIS SATURDAY, PLEASE CONSULT ONE OF YOUR COACHES. It was subtle, I know, but I used all caps and bold for EMPHASIS.

2. Feeding off the previous point, you can run a mighty fine marathon off of one or two 20 milers. Three is not some magic number. Please check with me, Carly, Deb, or Marty about your own personal training regarding this.

3. No one is training to peak for Saturday's run. We are all training for a fall marathon. Slow and easy gets the job done on Saturday. Your legs need to get used to working for a set amount of time, not running a certain speed. For example, if I wanted to run a three and half hour marathon, I would be better off on Saturday taking 3:15 to run 20 miles than if I went out and ran the dang workout at an 8:00 mile pace.

4. Twenty mile runs are dress rehearsals. You are getting your body to work for a set amount of time (not speed). You are also getting used to and finding the best clothes to wear on marathon day. You are training your mind to let go of things it can't control, like the weather.

5. Twenty mile runs are also labs for your body. Where do you need to put extra body glide? Which gel/gu/peanut butter nutrition plan works for you? Experiment, with discretion, during these final three long runs. What breakfast works best for you?

6. There is no delicate way to put this, but use these 20 milers to learn your, er, bathroom routine. In an ideal world, all toilet needs would be taken care of an hour before the race. Try to find that ideal.

6. The night before is also important. Lay your clothes out ahead of time. Get the logistics of preparing the night before down pat (otherwise, you'll be like me at last year's TC10 and, two miles into the race, you will end up discovering there is safety pin in your sock). And more importantly what foods work the night before.

7. The week leading up to the 20 miler is important too. Get used to thinking about your diet, sleep pattern, and hydration plan four, five, and even six days out.

8. During the run, do what works for you. Do you need to visualize actually running the marathon? Or are you better served pushing that aside? Personally, I do better when I don't try to visualize the race. I like that we practice on the actual TCM course, because that will give me knowledge of what to expect. But it is a dangerous game for me to begin to visualize what the actual race will be like. This may sounds odd, but when I am confident, I actually try to STOP visualizing a fast race. Otherwise, my imagination runs wild, I feel invincible, and come race day, I am prone to starting out waaaay too fast.

9. For those of you doing your first 20 miler ever, almost every person I know has said, after finishing, "Oh my gosh. There is no way I can run six more miles." It can be discouraging. But take a blind leap of faith. Replace those doubts with this FACT: every person that has said that to me has gone on to finish his or her marathon two months later. So will you. And most them (I'd say over 90%) had a great experience.

10. And speaking of great experiences, to quote Anne Walztoni, "enjoy the experience." Our training program is built around one date: October 7. But really, marathons aren't about just the 26.2 miles. They are also about the steps you took to get there. This is just one more chapter to enjoy in that story.

11. That being said, from a physiological standpoint, this training program is all about October 7. Not about August 18. It doesn't matter if you are a savvy veteran or a marathon rookie, people will feel a wide range of emotions after the run. Some will be discouraged. Others will be pumped up and raring to go. I suggest keeping all of this in check. Good or bad run, pat yourself on the back for a job well done, shake off the emotions, and remind yourself your body is preparing for October 7, not August 18. We still have a lot of work to do.

12. We will have some hills along the Minnehaha Parkway on our course. They are not substantial. But I suggest trying to focus on form on these hills. I learned this trick from Gene Niemi: do not change your percieved effort as you run up a hill. People tend to charge up hills. They will pull away from you, but once things flatten out, you quickly catch up to them and find that you are not breathing as hard. I tried this out at a hilly race on Sunday. It works!

13. Have a policy about aid stations: are you one to get in and get out as fast as you can? Or do you see them as a well deserved break and like to walk through them. I can make an argument as to why both approaches are good ideas. But that is irrelevant. Figure out what you think.

14. Regarding nutrition: Janelle, our star nutritionist recommends a gel/gu every 45 minutes with water. This works great for me. Find out if it works for you and if not, figure out what you need to do to adapt. And there are tons of gels and gu out there. Figure out, through trial and error, what works for you.

15. Run YOUR pace on Saturday. You will have to run your pace on October 7. Start practicing now. If the pack you are with is running a bit too salty for you, back off. Let them go. It's not easy for some of us (translation: me) to do this. Mental toughness is hanging on for dear life over the last five miles of the run, just so you can finish with the group you started with.

Mental toughness kills marathons.

Mental discipline makes a marathon. Mental discipline allows you to decide your mates are running too fast and saying, "I need to train at my own pace." Embrace mental discipline. Save mental toughness for the last mile of your marathon.

16. Get simple sugars into your body ASAP once you are done running.

17. Walk later in the day if you are sore. Go for at least a 15 minute jog ton Sunday no matter how sore you are. However, I say that with one qualifier, if you don't start to loosen up at all after five minutes of jogging, then you should stop and walk for the last 10 minutes.

18. If you did 18 miles two weeks ago, remember, 18 + 2 =20. Your only going two more miles than what you did two weeks ago. You can do this!

19. We live in the wealthiest, greatest nation on earth. And on top of that, we are a select few people who have the freedom (health-wise, financially, and time-wise) to train for this. There is so much for us to be grateful for.

I like to remind myself of this when I am struggling through the last few miles of a long run. Chin up! It's good to be alive.

Like my coach in high school said to start each practice and race, no matter the weather or the workout he was about to put us through: "It's a great day for a run."

20. Have fun!!!!!