LSD Stands For Long, Slow, Dreadful

Marathon Plan - Regressive Countdown - Week Six
09/27/10 - 10/03/10 - Week Total: 29.2

No race this weekend. I didn't find anything in the area, and I needed to complete a 20-miler (sighs!).

I know the drill. I have close to home a 7-mile loop  that I used to run 3 times. Now, I just run to the loop from my home (3 miles), two loops and come back home for a 20-miler. But... I went for a 20-miler two weeks ago, and at mile 12 I was dragging my feet and decided to go home, ending with a 15-miler instead.

This week I decided to change terrain. Being so close to home can easily convince me of quitting if the run is not going well, and as I know myself, without the adrenaline and endorphins that racing provides me, I knew the run was going to be tough. 

The route selected: Burke-Gilman Trail which is a Seattle's 27-mile trail, that I have never run before. Plan: run 10 miles from Kenmore to University of Washington (UW) and come back. Mode: LSD (Long, slow distance). With this plan, there was no chance of quitting; I needed to come back, and there was nobody there to save me.

So there I went to cover the distance, trying to entertain myself discovering each segment of the trail. There were tons of cyclists and runners as Seattleites, in general, are very passionate outdoors people. This trail is connected to Lake Sammamish Trail providing us with an unbroken trail segment of 42 miles, highly used by bike commuters. Seattleites, in general, are also very green.

The first 9 miles were at a nice steady pace, but after the turn around in UW I started to feel it. How come this doesn't happen in a race? With ONLY ten more miles to go I slowed down. And the slow pace, became super slow, and the super slow pace, became super, super slow. At mile 15 I stopped for the restroom, washed my face and filled a bottle of water.

When I clocked mile 19, I changed to first gear and ran the last mile like my first miles, then I saw my car. It was over. It was like taking a bitter cough syrup.

I am confident of my racing paces, so I am not concerned about this run. I just needed to get it done. It was indeed an LSD. LSD Stands For Long, Slow, Dreadful.