L-Five Trail Run Report (20 Miles)

I had the pleasure today of trail running with Steve Barlow and Kay Scott, both fellow members of the North Texas Trail Runners. I ran with them about a month ago and enjoyed the company both times.

For most of the run I just tucked in behind them and tried to stay up. They spent most of the run today talking about their Ironman training. I have a lot of respect for people that train for multiple disciplines. I am just trying to get good at one!

Steve and Kay ahead of me on a sandy part of the Northshore Trail.

My run was excellent, the longest since I started my Three In Three Challenge, and a big mental and confidence booster for my next milestone race.


Length: 20 miles in just over 4 hours

My training plan called for a six mile run today. However, I sorta had the idea in my head that I wanted to try to run the entire trail, about 20 miles in total. Once I hooked up with Steve and Kay we headed toward Far Gate. I had planned to see how I felt after the initial trip out and back before determining if I would keep running. When we returned to MADD, I felt great and decided to keep running.

By this time my GPS showed about 10.5 miles (I had run a couple of warm-up miles before heading to Far Gate). I was feeling great. So I decided to run toward Rockledge Park until I reached almost five miles and then look for a connection to the return loop of the trail. Kay joined me for part of the run and then left to head back to MADD (she is running a Dallas White Rock Marathon next weekend and is supposed to be tapering!).

After almost five miles I made the switch over to the return loop and headed back toward the MADD shelter. When I arrived, my watch said 19.98 miles. No way I was stopping .02 away from my 20 mile goal. So I turned around and ran about 15 steps back the way I had just come until my GPS clicked over to 20 miles. Then, turned around again and walked back to the MADD shelter.

I did it! 20 miles! The longest run since I started my Three In Three Challenge!

Limbs: Excellent!

On my run today I was very careful throughout to protect my calf muscles. I have struggled with calf muscle strains on many of my previous runs. I finally figured out that the strains were due to running to fast, and/or pushing too hard up the inclines. So I was sure to take it easy on the hills today. As a result, I didn't have any calf muscle problems. Ya baby!

I will say that by the end of my run my legs were getting a little tired, but not on the flats, only on the inclines. I  felt like I could have run the flats for a couple more hours. As a matter of fact, when I reached the 19 mile mark, I decided to pick up the pace for the last hour, and I ended up running faster the last mile than any other mile through the entire run (10:41 mpm pace).

But as I said, my legs didn't have the strength they had earlier when it came to the inclines. I just didn't have the steam left in them to continue running up the hills. So I walked up the hills. I've clearly identified an area that I need to improve. More on that in another post.

One of the small inclines I had to climb near the end of my run.

Lungs: Excellent

As I wrote last week, I am still impressed with the way my lungs have healed from quitting smoking. I am no longer coughing during my runs, at least not to a degree where I notice it. I still think the cooler weather is helping with my breathing. But I also realize losing the excess weight and just a general improvement in my fitness also helps. As was the case last week, I didn't feel like I was out of breath at any point during the run. It's all good.

Laughs: Excellent

I can't put into words how excited I am about my progress. My run today was a major mental and confidence booster. The idea that I can step out the door and run 20 miles is rather amazing to me. When I think back six months, I couldn't run a half mile without throwing up on the side of the trail. But that has all changed. As a result, I am excited to get out there on every run and don't want to stop once I get going. I'm loving it!

Learning: Fueling 


I was a little concerned when I started my run today about fueling. I really haven't run long enough previously to have to worry about it too much. I've focused primarily in the past on hydration. But I have the hydration thing down pretty well now, so my energy has shifted to fueling (with gels and solids).

I didn't eat any breakfast this morning, but instead, gobbled down a PowerBar about 30 minutes before leaving for the trail. My plan was to alternate eating a PowerBar and an eGel about every 4 miles. I took my first eGel at the end of mile one, a PowerBar at five miles, another eGel at nine miles, and so on and so forth. When I completed my run I took one last eGel to aid in recovery.

The process worked well. I didn't feel hungry or bloated. I didn't have any digestion issues. And best of all, I didn't bonk! I had energy the entire time. I've heard about "the wall" that marathoners hit around the 18 mile mark. I didn't experience any wall today. Not mentally or physically. So I must have done something right, or just got lucky!

I realize that the fueling thing gets more complicated as the miles increase, but overall, I was very happy with my fueling results today.


Next Week:

The following outlines my training plan for next week:

• Monday: REST!
• Tuesday: 3 miles
• Wednesday: 3 miles
• Thursday: 3 miles
• Friday: Strength
• Saturday: Hill work
• Sunday: 7 miles (yea, right!)

For the distance runners out there, do you remember when you ran your first 20 miler? What did it feel like for you?