I ran 30 miles and it was amazing

Jumping for Joy at the conclusion of my 30 mile run!

I am in awe of how well my 30 mile run went!  I knew I was in shape for it, and I didn't really have any doubts about my ability to finish it, but I didn't expect to feel good during it.  I'm not saying the whole thing felt like a jaunt in the park, but it almost did.  And for how far I went and how many hours I spent running, it basically did feel like a jaunt in the park.  I have felt a lot worse than that on runs that were a lot shorter!

This week : 

M : run 4.2 / 8:04 / 161 ft

T : run 4.5 / 7:20 / 85 ft

8 x 400 (90, 88, 88, 89, 87, 88, 86, 85)

W : bike 12.4 / 18.1 mph / 768 ft

R : 60 min yoga class

run 5 / 7:14 / 203 ft

3 @ goal hm pace (6:38, 6:41, 6:39)

F : rest

Sa : run 30 / 8:27 / 1299 ft

Su : 35 min yoga stretching

total run miles : 43.7

total bike miles : 12.4

Recap of long run : 

Mentally, I felt great for the entire run.  I was cheerful, I was enjoying the experience, and I never hit a wall of any kind.  I had Tailwind Nutrition in my camelbak, sipped frequently, and never got calorie depleted or thirsty.  I had brought a gel and some chews just in case, but never used them or felt like I needed them.  Ben ran the first 23.7 with me, and then handed me off to Mollie and Joe who ran to the finish with me, joined by Jim at mile 27.5.  I am grateful to all the friends who supported me in this run, it was definitely nice to have the company out there!

The weather was overcast, high 50s, and extremely humid.

The first loop of the run went really smoothly.  Ben and I cruised along up and down the hills and kept a good steady pace averaging around 8 minute miles.  The second loop sent us down a very muddy rail trail, and then back onto the road.  We continued to keep a really good pace, with uphill miles a bit slower and downhill miles a bit faster.

I started having intermittent knee pain sometime around mile 13, but it never got too bad, and it never lasted too long, so it wasn't worrying.  Sometime around mile 22 I could no longer ignore the fact that my feet were hurting, but it was just normal been-on-my-feet-for-hours pain.  Around mile 27, I got a sharper pain along the outside of my left foot, that got persistently worse.  By mile 28 it hurt a lot.  It hurt less if I bounced along on my toes instead of keeping my normal running stride, so that's what I did.  It hurt bad enough to be worrying, but there was no way I was going to quit with less than 2 miles left to my goal!  It didn't take me long to figure out the cause of the foot pain.  The roads around here are all cambered at the edge.  For almost the entire run, I was running with my left foot on the lower side of the camber.  There were 4 miles of rail trail from 13-17, and sidewalk from 28-30, but other than that, the run was entirely on cambered roads.

I posted updates to my instagram account (@wvhillrunner) throughout my run...here they are.

This one was called : Time to get this party started.  

Taken at 6 AM. 

Shortly after I started down the Creeper Trail. 

Stopped about a mile later to top off my camelbak at a water fountain and take off my shirt.

Less than 4 miles to go and still smiling!

Other photos taken along the way:

And a photo of everyone who ran with me at one time or another!  

Ben was waiting for us at my house when we finished, 

along with Mollie's husband who took the photo.  

Now, I will have to take it easy until the foot recovers.  I desperately do NOT want this to turn into a lasting injury.  My marathon is now less than 4 weeks away!  I plan to bike until the foot pain is gone.