22 mile LSR
22 miles at 7:28, 2hr44min NO HRM
This was the first of my two LSR's for DCM. Before connemarathon earlier this year i did just one 22 mile run and i felt it really helped mentally on the day itself. It means on race day I only had 4 miles of untrained for distance. On the premise that more is better i added a second 22 miler on this schedule, I aim to race the next 3 weekends, so i'll bring my LSR's back to 18 miles and then in 4 weeks do another very long one.
I ran yesterday after work, setting off a 6pm, i didn't want anything to taxing so decided on a straight into kilkenny (11 miles) turn and come home. I didn't bring any gels or water with me and in the rush to get out the door stupidly forgot to bring money for a drink. The run into Kilkenny was challenging into a headwind, but in common with all my runs these days i was struggling to keep the pace down. My natural instinct is to drive a bit to around the 7:10 pace mark, so had to keep an eye on the garmin the ensure the pace was kept even.
I turned at the 11 mile mark and retraced my steps home, at this stage i was pretty fatigued. At mile 14 i felt my right calf muscle tighten - this has never happened to me before and for 2 miles it kept tight and in the end i had to stop for a few minutes to stretch it out. It still didn't feel good and yet i was still 6 miles from home. I slowed to 8min mile pace and within another mile it had eased, i slogged for home, picked up the pace and finished the last two miles close to marathon pace. Fell in the door, feeling sore and dehydrated.
Spent last night on the couch with my calf iced and elevated
