Today was a milestone in the training program. We completed 23 miles.
We started at 7 AM with an easy 4:1 walk/run ratio. Averaging the walk intervals with the 10 min/mile running pace works out to about a 12 min/mile combined pace.
Although the Galloway run/walk method is the great enabler of mere mortals like me running a marathon, I'm starting to understand how it can become a doubled edged sword. During longer runs, transitioning from walking to running becomes painful. And the longer you walk, the more your muscles adjust and the less they want to start running again. Today, we often extended our walk intervals to two minutes or more in order to stretch, or finish eating goo, or whatever. This was, in my opinion, a debilitating mistake. Common sense would tell you that the longer your recovery interval, the stronger you'll feel for the run interval. This is not the case, and I think most of my group would agree. Hopefully next time we can strictly limit our recovery intervals.
Today's run was draining, both mentally and physically. After coming home, eating, showering, and taking a nap, I'm still wiped out. Recovering from the 20 mile run took about 24 hours.
On a positive note, I took a bunch of pictures. The scenery offered by Shoreline is hard to beat.
Here is the remainder of our training schedule:
| June 17 | 8 miles |
| June 24 | 8 miles |
| July 1 | 10 miles |
| July 9 | 26 miles |
| July 15 | 8 miles |
| July 22 | 8 miles |
| July 30 | Race Day! |
I'm looking forward to it. Sunday, July 9, is the "celebration run" where the South Bay and East Bay groups join the San Francisco group for a massive run in the city followed by a BBQ.
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