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October 10, 2016

Marine Corps Marathon Training 22 Miler

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On Friday, before leaving town for the weekend, I tackled the longest long run on my Marine Corps Marathon training agenda: a 22 miler.

22 mile training run

When I was training for my first full marathon, the Richmond Marathon back in 2013, I did a similar approach with my two longest runs being a 20 miler and a 22 miler. I know some training plans only call for going up to 20 miles, but I find that hitting 22 helps me a lot confidence wise for the actual race. An extra 4 miles sounds so much more manageable than an extra 6!

Lucky for me for this long run, my friend Heather, who is also training for Marine Corps Marathon, was looking to do her long run for the week on Friday as well. Hooray for company!

dietitian on the run

Heather wanted to run for 3 hours, so I knew I’d have to do a few extra miles at the end on my own, but it was still awesome to have company for most of the time! I thought I’d be doing this one solo and was kind of dreading it, to be honest.

We started off at about a 9:15 to 9:30 pace, sticking with that for about 10 miles, when we met up with a friend of Heather’s and one of her friends. We did another 5 or so with them, picking up the pace slightly to closer to 9 to 9:15, doing most of the miles over on Hains Point.

running hains point

I felt pretty good until about mile 14 or 15 when I started to tank a little. We said farewell to Heather’s friends around this point and took off again just the two of us. Since I was starting to feel pretty tired we slowed the pace to about 9:30 to 9:45 and I did my best to not be cranky. 🙂 Thankfully Heather did a good job keeping me distracted with chatting!

At mile 18 I said goodbye to Heather and headed off to finish out the remaining 4 on my own. Unfortunately my watch was totally off by this point thanks to forgetting to restart it at one of the lights on the National Mall, but Heather’s was still right so I just made sure to double check our mileage before she split!

To finish out the 22, I headed down onto the Mt. Vernon Trail, my favorite.

Mt vernon trail running

For the first couple miles running by myself I felt pretty tired, and had settled in just under 10 minute miles, but I randomly got a second wind at mile 20 which was both unexpected and very welcome! I didn’t pick up the pace much, but I felt WAY more positive and mentally in the game, which was great. Finishing a long run feeling strong mentally is so huge.

Another thing that was cool about the end of this run was that I finished exactly at the Marine Corps Marathon finish line (including the super steep, short, rude hill that’s involved) – got me pumped for race day!

marine corps marathon finish hill

When I finished I felt surprisingly good and very proud – 22 miles is no joke. And even better was that I felt like I totally could have done the extra 4 – it wouldn’t have been fast or easy, but I definitely could have done it. That was a great feeling, especially because most of my long runs have been pretty blech thanks to hot/humid weather. It was also a nice change from how I felt finishing my 20 miler two weeks ago – I felt REALLY rough when I finished that run and ached terribly – I didn’t think I could have gone a step farther. Totally not the case on Friday – hooray!

For fuel on this run, before I left the house I had a slice of this paleo bread (loving this lately – it’s expensive with the shipping but totally worth it – I find it keeps me much more satisfied than normal toast. Before a short run I just have a half slice) with a half serving (because I was about to leave the house and didn’t want to be sloshy) of my fave Vega pre-workout energizer.

pre long run fuel

During the run, I had one mocha clif shot gel (caffeine was necessary) near the beginning of the run that I ate slowly over a few miles (mile 4 to 8 I think), and then I had 8 of my nut butter stuffed salty dates over the rest of the run. These are the BEST. Obsessed! They really keep me from feeling nauseous/ravenous late in the run.

long run fuel homemade

Immediately after finishing the run, while I was stretching, I pounded a cranberry crunch perfect bar and a maple water. Hit the spot, and meant I didn’t arrive home a little while later totally ravenous/dying so I could shower before having a real meal. I wish I’d had some chocolate milk (or Organic Fuel!) but we were all out!

post long run fuel

I’m so pumped this 22 miler is in the books, because now it’s all downhill from here! Just under 3 weeks until race day and I only have one more long run on the agenda – I’ll be doing a mid-distance long run this Thursday before leaving town for a conference on Friday. The weekend before the race I’m counting a long hike as my last training run. 🙂

To be honest, I’ve found fitting in marathon training this fall while doing so much travel and while so busy with work to be pretty stressful. It’s been worth it because I have always wanted to do Marine Corps and I don’t think timing will ever be any better, but I have to admit I’m pretty glad I’m nearly done with training. It doesn’t help that almost all of my runs were in terrible hot weather. Now that the weather is cooling down running is feeling a lot more appealing again, but I’m still pretty relieved that my last crazy long run is done – it will be nice to go back to more low key fitness and short, casual runs again post-race. 🙂

Did any of you guys run Chicago Marathon this weekend?! How was it? A huge congrats to all my track buddies who did Chicago – proud of them!

Who else got in a run this weekend? I spent the weekend hiking – more on that tomorrow! 🙂

—

Please note there are affiliate links in this post.

- anne
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30 comments
  • Grace G October 10, 2016 · 10:19AM:
    I also did my longest run (22mi) for Richmond Marathon training! I felt the same way at the end--finally confident that I can do 26.2..it was awesome! Congrats on taper town!
    Reply
    • Anne
      October 10, 2016 · 11:03AM:
      That's awesome! I hope you love Richmond as much as I did!
      Reply
  • Bethany Imondi
    October 10, 2016 · 10:22AM:
    I ran Chicago this weekend and could not have asked for a more perfect day! The weather was about 50 degrees to start and the sun felt good, without overheating me, while on the race course. I went in hoping to qualify for Boston and finished in 3:33:36!!!! I never felt so strong or more proud than I did yesterday when crossing the finish line!
    Reply
    • Anne
      October 10, 2016 · 11:03AM:
      That's amazing!! Congratulations!!!
      Reply
  • Allison Keskimaki
    October 10, 2016 · 11:06AM:
    Taper time for me, so I did a 10k this weekend and it was glorious! A cool 46 degrees to start and no humidity. YES!
    Reply
    • Anne
      October 11, 2016 · 10:32AM:
      Amaaaazing! Anything in the 40 degree range is my favorite - this morning's track workout was AWESOME - 43 degrees felt so good!
      Reply
  • Stacey Wiesenthal October 10, 2016 · 11:32AM:
    Are you going to FNCE? I can't go this year, but I love going
    Reply
    • Anne
      October 11, 2016 · 10:33AM:
      Yes, I am! I'll be there Friday to Monday. :)
      Reply
  • Sam @ Grapefruit & Granola
    October 10, 2016 · 3:34PM:
    I'm glad the weather is cooling down for you. I can relate to what you said about training and the time it takes. I just did my first triathlon a few weeks ago and trying to find the time to fit in my workouts there towards the end was really inconvenient. I felt sleep-deprived and stressed out because of training sometimes. I hope the rest of your training goes well and good luck on your race!
    Reply
    • Anne
      October 11, 2016 · 10:32AM:
      Yeah, trying to prioritize sleep but it's hard with all the weekday long runs - and the heat - had to start my long runs so early! So close now though - I know it will all have been worth it! :)
      Reply
  • erin m. October 10, 2016 · 7:59PM:
    Nice job!! I did my second 20 Mildred on Saturday, but it didn't go as well as my last. I struggled a lot toward the middle and end but finished it. Hopefully it was just a fluke!
    Reply
    • Anne
      October 11, 2016 · 10:31AM:
      Some runs are just harder than others! Next one will be a good one :)
      Reply
  • Amy @ Thoroughly Nourished Life
    October 10, 2016 · 8:16PM:
    Go Anne! You are a rockstar! I'm so glad you finished strong and feel ready for the race! You have been fitting in so much with all of your travel, so I bet post-race you are going to feel super relaxed and happy to get back to shorter runs :) I hope you had a wonderful weekend away. Can't wait to read all about it. Happy Anniversary!
    Reply
    • Anne
      October 11, 2016 · 10:31AM:
      Thanks so much Amy! :)
      Reply
  • Roadrunner October 11, 2016 · 8:03AM:
    Very well done, Anne. Impressive. Over the training hump, big time. Congrats. Now to focus on rest while tapering. Good luck!
    Reply
  • Brittani October 11, 2016 · 8:09AM:
    I ran my one of my longest runs this weekend along the C&O Canal... 18 miles! The Marine Corp Marathon will be my first ever and this weekend's run was ROUGH to say the least. Scared me a little bit but I'm chalking it up as a character building run :) .... And about to search your blog for all of the marathon tips and tricks I can find!
    Reply
    • Anne
      October 11, 2016 · 10:28AM:
      Character building runs are important! I've definitely had some of those. You've got this - good luck and have fun! :)
      Reply
    • Anne
      October 11, 2016 · 10:28AM:
      Also, here's more on my running content: http://www.fannetasticfood.com/running/
      Reply
  • Heather
    October 11, 2016 · 10:19AM:
    I agree. I feel a lot more comfortable doing 22-23 miles as my longest run. I'm also doing MCM and had a great last long run before taper. Good luck and I can't wait to read your race recap.
    Reply
    • Anne
      October 11, 2016 · 10:27AM:
      Hope you have a great race! :)
      Reply
  • Janelle @ Run With No Regrets
    October 11, 2016 · 11:19AM:
    Great job on your 22 miles! I'm working with a coach for the Philly Marathon, so I don't know if she'll top me out at 20 or 22! Those dates look really good!
    Reply
    • Anne
      October 11, 2016 · 11:24AM:
      I've heard great things about Philly - good luck and have fun! :)
      Reply
  • Arthi
    October 11, 2016 · 7:22PM:
    Good job on the 22-miler! I ran Chicago this weekend and had an awesome race!! PR'd and really surprised myself!!
    Reply
    • Anne
      October 12, 2016 · 9:38AM:
      That's awesome! Congratulations!
      Reply
  • Meredith Z October 12, 2016 · 11:40AM:
    Congrats on the long run! This has me pumped to do my long run this weekend, also 22 miles. I've been nervous, so thanks for blogging about it!
    Reply
    • Anne
      October 12, 2016 · 12:19PM:
      You can do it! Good luck and have fun! :)
      Reply
  • Annie October 14, 2016 · 10:23PM:
    You rock, girl!! I did Chicago this weekend and LOVED it. I did Marine Corps last year and it was amazing! I'm so excited for you to experience it!
    Reply
    • Anne
      October 17, 2016 · 3:21PM:
      Way to go with Chicago - that's awesome! On my bucket list :)
      Reply
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anne mauney fannetastic food
Hi, I’m Anne! I'm a Washington D.C. based Registered Dietitian, mother, runner, and lover of travel, adventure, and the great outdoors. I've been blogging since 2009, sharing a mix of lifestyle content, recipes, and fitness tips. Come for the recipes – stay for the fun!
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anne mauney

I’m Anne, a Registered Dietitian and mother. I've been blogging since 2009 and love showing others that eating nutritious foods and staying active can actually be fun rather than overwhelming!

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