20 miles and liquids gone wrong
My marathon training plan had the 1st of it’s two 20 milers this past week and I’m pleased to report that I completed it without collapsing. As a matter of fact I felt pretty good muscular wise, but I did have a few issues during the run.
The first problem was that I was not particularly well rested. Daylight saving kicked in this weekend so when my alarm went off at the new 5AM it was actually the old 4AM. And to compound this my daughter had a rather restless night and called for me many a time so it was a rather bleary eyed dad that went for his run.
The second issue is that I had a few internal rumblings and had to visit quite a few of the bathrooms along my route. I suspect it is caused by the energy type drink I used this week. I’ve found that these drinks don’t work well for me and for my next long run I’ll stick to a gel or two as they don’t seem to cause me any grief.
Other than that the run was great. My wife did the first 12.5 km with me and that is always nice.
We saw this family at Mission Bay enjoying an early morning out:
I followed a route that took in most of the second half of the marathon course. During the actual marathon we’ll be running across the harbour bridge:
It is always nice running through the Viaduct area as you get to see all the expensive toys of the rich and famous. I was hoping to grab a picture of a super yacht as there are normally one or two but there were none in the harbour:
I saw these suspicious looking characters as well:
Speaking of suspicious looking characters, I saw a guy get arrested by the police which was a bit of fun. I think he’d been trying to break into a house as the police were wrestling him to the ground and putting handcuffs on. That was a bit unusual to say the least!
I felt pretty good after the run. I thought I would be wiped out but it wasn’t too bad.
I did 32 km in 3:19:12 which was just what my training plan called for. A nice gentle 32km run.
This coming week is now a rest week so the mileage is dramatically reduced. Next week I’ll have another 20 miler and then we’re into the taper! Not long now. 
Bring on the taper. Good to run on the actual course isn’t it!
Aaron´s last blog ..Absolutely Stuffed
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Awesome. That distance/race is a long way off for me, but your posts are always great to read. Encouraging stuff.
Joe Thorn´s last blog ..Third Time’s a Charm
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That’s what training runs are for, to learn all those lessons so you don’t have to on race day!
Andrew(AJH)´s last blog ..Another day of laziness …
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May I make a suggestion for you? You might want to dig coconut water as your sport drinks. They are terrific and you will find it helpful especially for your long run.
Ted´s last blog ..Last Day of Summer !
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Andrew
reply on September 29th, 2009 7:06 pm:
I’ve never even heard of that. Will have to see if I can track some down.
Twitter: AndrewENZ
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Kate
reply on September 30th, 2009 11:56 am:
Let me know if you do! I’ve been looking since I heard about it, but no luck yet
Kate´s last blog ..I was late to swimming today
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Wow, it’s getting here awfully fast! You’ll be ready for it, though!
Cammy@TheTippyToeDiet´s last blog ..Makeover Monday: The Longest Stride
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Won’t be long now – glad your run was good other than the couple problems. It looks like you are right where I am with my 20 milers as of late. I was just under 3:20 as well.
Great job!
By the way – do you have a time goal for your upcoming marathon?
Tim Wilson´s last blog ..A Trip to Washington DC…. To Run
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Andrew
reply on September 30th, 2009 2:37 pm:
Not really. I have a figure in mind but after the last one I’m just going to say that I’ll be happy to beat my previous time.
Twitter: AndrewENZ
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Tim Wilson
reply on September 30th, 2009 11:49 pm:
Understood – I am sure you will do that, and enjoy it along the way! I am doing a Half Marathon this weekend as part of my marathon training and will be doing the same with that…. just trying to beat my last half marathon time… nothing more.
Tim Wilson´s last blog ..A Trip to Washington DC…. To Run
Twitter: virtual4now
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Great run Andrew! I’ve been out of touch for a while, but it’s great to come back and see that your training is going well. All the best!
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hi..im training for the auckland marathon too! my first!..am sort of looking forward to it but a bit ‘anxious;. and I also was up at 4am on the daylight saving switch….a good time to be up si?
good luck with the marathon too..
catherine´s last blog ..How to run 39.2 kilometers….(yes…I did it…my longest run to date…)
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I still haven’t figured out the best way to fuel myself on the long runs (20+ miles). Mostly water with small amounts of energy drinks/food seems to be working best for now. Anything 20 or less I seem to work best on just water. But I think it will be a tinkering ordeal for as long as I run.
Great photos!
Scott Keeps Running´s last blog ..So I Run
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It is fantastic to see how you take in your surroundings on your runs, even though you seem very committed you still take time to take photos of remarkable things you encounter on your runs.
Healthy Diet Weight Loss´s last blog ..The Gabriel Method – Drinking Water And Weight Loss
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Have you tried yerba mate as an excellent source of antioxidants, vitamins and minerals? It´s also a superb appetite suppressant. If you decide to try it I´d definetely recommend you go organic.
Greetings!
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“Nice gentle 32 km” — love it!
Keep trying different drinks, Andrew. I’ve tried them all and am partial to one. Don’t think you’d want to be out that long with only gels.
Jeff´s last blog ..Near Miss
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