The last time I ran more than 18 miles was the Eugene Marathon, eight months ago in early May. Eight months! No wonder I’d forgotten what a difference there can be between running 18 miles and running 20. That difference has a common name, of course. Sigh, “The Wall”.
My route was the Sellwood – Steel loop, clockwise, twice around, for a total of around 20.8 miles. I went out too fast. Like I said, it’s been a while. I forgot how much respect you need to give to 20 milers. Even the flat ones. I kept my pace between 8:45 and 9:00 per mile for the first fifteen miles. For miles 15 through 18, I hung onto 9:00 without a huge struggle.
Then I ran out of juice, period. The last two miles, I alternated walking and a slow jog. I felt tired in my core, like I couldn’t gather enough energy in my torso to tell my legs to get moving. My legs hurt a little, but not too bad. It felt more a failure of the lungs than the legs, but the real culprit was surely the simple depletion of glycogen throughout my system, especially in my legs. And in my head. This state is no fun at all.
I was a mental zombie for more than a few hours after the run, but at least the physical recovery wasn’t bad. My legs went from painfully sore to fairly normal in four or five hours.
I'd Rather be Running 