Week 20: Twenty-three miles

 EDIT: I found my stats! Turned out I hadn't actually stopped the workout running on the app, it just got shoved into the background and paused. Once I finally closed the workout, my stats showed up in history. So here they are:

20:40 second run/walk ratio for ~18 - 20 miles? then walked the rest of the way
6:31 hours
22.47 miles
17.4 minutes/mile

That's not actually too bad, considering how much I slowed down for the last few miles, and stopped to rest a couple of times. Very close to getting the full 23 miles in.

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No stats today—my app got all screwed up somewhere along the way. My best estimate is 7 hours for 22 - 23 miles. Close enough.

I'm in Monterey this weekend, visiting a friend, and taking advantage of the cool coastal weather to do my 23-mile run. I ran up the Monterey Bay Coastal Trail, from Monterey near the Aquarium, all the way to the Starbucks in Marina on Del Monte and Reservation Dr. Got up at 6:30 AM and hit the road at 7:10 AM, running from her place up to pick up the trail near the Aquarium, and out.

The first half of the run was great! Beautiful cool weather, lovely scenery, and lots of fun taking a new route I'd never run before, especially one I could run out and back the whole way. I'd checked the map online and figured that the Marina Starbucks would be just about half way, and sure enough, my app told me I was halfway there about a block short of the Starbucks.

There my plans began to go awry. I'd brought a $10 bill with me to buy a cold drink and a snack at Starbucks, but I'd tucked it in the same pocket as my phone, and somewhere along the way when I took my phone out to check my distance or take a picture, the money had fallen out. So I arrived at Starbucks with no money. I did use the bathroom and refilled my water bottle, but no drinks or snacks for me! I'd only brought one gel and one pack of gummies along, thinking I'd have one halfway there, one halfway back, plus whatever I got at Starbucks. (I also drank a protein drink before starting out.) With no money, I ended up eating my second gel soon after the turnaround, with nothing more to eat for the second half of the run.

It was also around here somewhere that I hit the wrong button and my app flipped out. It was still timing my run/walk intervals, but had somehow decided I needed to run 18 more miles when I'd already gone over half way, and really only needed another 11-ish miles. Oh well. I'd gone halfway and turned around, all I needed to do was go back the way I came.

My phone battery was low, and I plugged in the battery stick. That worked well, although I wasn't sure it was going to at the time, because it didn't look like it was charging. It was, though—the app kept going the whole way back, and my phone was fully charged when I got home.

Around 11 AM, the overcast cleared up and I started getting some sun. Not anywhere near as bad as in Tehachapi, but the combination of no food and sun and my water bottle running low eventually did me in when I got near Fisherman's Wharf. My vision was going bright and I was feeling really tired. I'd already stopped for a brief rest, which helped me keep going a little way, and I was no longer doing any run intervals, but finally I had to stop again in a patch of shade, and had to squat down to rest, and started getting dizzy and almost passing out. A very nice guy stopped to see if I was all right. I managed to stand up and told him I'd just gotten dizzy, too hot and not enough water (although I had found a water fountain just shortly before, and refilled my bottle, but not soon enough) and no food. He wanted to call someone, I said I had my phone and maybe I should call my friend to come and get me. So I did.

I was already feeling better, and was able to walk back a bit and out to the street so my friend could find me. I only had no more than a mile and a half to go, and probably could have made it once I rested, but it was also nice to get a ride home and not have to try.

I think I still got my 23 miles in—my Step app says I did 23.1 miles today. So I don't mind cutting it a bit short, although I hope the getting dizzy near the end doesn't become a thing. I was also wondering whether doing my twenty-mile run in two sections six hours apart might make the 23-mile run harder. Maybe my body still thinks the 15 mile section is my longest run, which would definitely make a 23-mile run harder.

Anyway, it got done, and it was a a good run most of the way! Coming up to Monterey to do the long run was a good idea. If it's still hot in Tehachapi in three weeks, I might come back to do the 26-miler.