The Day After - 20 Miler #4

Today, I got to pay for yesterday's Gold Medal.

23 hours after a 5k PR, I hit the trail for 20 miler #4, my next to last long run prior to the Harrisburg Marathon (curious that I don't include a 15 or 13 miler as being "long" runs).

The plan called for an effort of 7:58 - 8:13. Three weeks ago, I'd pulled an awesome 7:50 average, but with a 1/2 marathon PR and a 5kPR in the past 8 days, I realized I'd be running a bit on fumes, so I just said a prayer and hoped for the best.

Wow. This was hard. Previously, I'd always shown these 20 milers due respect and had a rest day the day prior. This time, I was tired and sore right from the get-go. No complaints - I average 8:08 for the first ten and 8:00 for the last ten, for an 8:04 on the whole thing. All in all, it was my 2nd slowest 20 miler of the 4, but I'm not too worried - in many ways, I think it was a good mental exercise because I really really really wanted to be done with this one almost from the mid point and I didn't cave much at all.

Diabetes-wise, I'm still figuring out my plan for the marathon. This time, I wore my insulin pump and had the basal rate at 40% of normal (in other words, less insulin). I drank Cytomax and did a blood sugar at the midpoint and was 174. I really wanted a gel, so I took that and some insulin. Finished the run feeling low and was 90.

Problem with the Cytomax is that - because it's a drink - it's kind of hard to predict how many carbs I'm getting. I'm currently thinking of getting some E-gels (gel w/ electrolytes mixed in) and running the marathon on water. The gels will be predictable and will give me carbs and electrolytes. Will try to get some of those prior to my next long run.

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