This was a great, confidence-building longest long run, on a bright sunny and pleasantly warm day in Eugene. Twenty-four miles without slowing down, without shot legs, and without meeting Mean Mister Wall.
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I planned a route that let me check out almost all of the marathon course (with the exception being a few very familiar miles in South Eugene) and return to my parked car after each of three 7-9 miles loops. I used the car as an aid station, refilling my water bottle and grabbing more fun-sized Milky Way bars or Clif Shot Bloks.
The first loop was south, through the U of O and adjoining neighborhoods. I warmed up very cautiously, starting with a 10:27 mile, then 9:51, 9:04, 9:14, 9:55, 10:19,and 9:27. (Some of the all-over-the map times here are due to traffic lights.) I made an effort to both run easily and eat a lot during this first seven miles, in hopes of pushing the wall further off later on. I had an espresso-flavored caramel filled chocolate bar that my Mom gave me, and a few 75-calorie Milky Way bars. I’m trying the fun-sized bars as a much cheaper substitute for the Gu’s or Clif shots. (Seemed to work.) Virtually all the hills in the Eugene Marathon are in this first section, with a few ups and downs of 75 or 100 feet over the course of a few miles… nothing serious.
Once back to the car, I shed my gloves and was now running in shorts, a tech tee, and a light vest (worn mostly because it had pockets). The next loop was out to Springfield, on the north side of the Willamette River. This was the section I was least familiar with, never having had cause to bike out to Springfield when I was a lad in Eugene. (I’m not sure which of these paths were around then either.) The paths along the river were nice; the road sections not as scenic, but still very flat. I continued to take it easy, still eating candy bars, though not as frequently. My mile splits for this eight-mile leg were 9:35, 9:29 , 9:35, 9:27, 9:34, 9:15, 9:18, and 9:33.
My pit stop at the car was a little longer this time… I also used the park restroom. With the day getting warmer, I left behind my vest and cap. I grabbed a bag of Clif Shot Bloks (freebies from the Race for the Roses) and stuffed them into the the strap of my hand-held water bottle. This last loop, nine miles, goes along the north (and east) bank of the Willamette way out to a footbridge — the Owosso Bridge? — then back along the west (and south) bank, past Skinner’s Butte Park, past the Ferry Street Bridge, then back to the Autzen footbridge. The actual marathon heads a bit north from there and finishes at Autzen stadium; I was veering west and back to my car.
I held up really well during this last lap. I tried to settle into a 9:20 pace — 30 seconds slower than my marathon pace goal — and did pretty well there. My first mile splits were 9:17, 9:25, 9:22, and 9:16. Running was definitely becoming more work, don’t get my wrong. I spent a lot of time fiddling with my MP3 player, trying to find the right music or radio station to keep me moving. It would have been nice to have some people running around me to key off of. Mile 20 was 8:58. I’m not sure why I sped up there; I imagine that I crossed the bridge and turned back toward the finish in there, and maybe that spurred me on. I certainly recall that I was continuing to struggle a little bit to keep running strong. I was back to my goal pace the next mile, with a 9:19.
Twenty-one miles down and three to go. I was back into the familiar paths of Skinner’s Butte park, and had a good feel for how far I had to go. Suddenly I felt pretty good. I leaned forward and pushed it a bit, taking more forceful if less efficient strides. It felt good — maybe I was working different muscles. Some runner’s high kicked in. I powered home the last three miles in 8:39, 8:25, and 8:32. Never hit any wall. Felt great! I did a cool-down jog for the remaining third of a mile back to the car.
Totals: 24.3 miles, average pace of 9:26/mile.
