A fun Saturday run

After my marathon last month, I wondered if I could run 30 miles. Today I found out.

I got a nice late start and ran and ran and ran. I was pretty confident that I could complete the run. I had an easy course planned along the rivers. I also had a new, bigger hip belt with two big bottles for Gatorade. It also has a pocket for lots of snacks and money. The weather was cool, so even though the bag was heavy, my shorts, long pants, and t-shirt kept me from getting any chafing from the bag.

I have just started researching Ultra marathons (anything over 26.2 miles), but one thing I have learned so far is that it is important to take in lots of calories during the day. My computer says I burned well over 4,000 calories today. One of my main goals today was to see if I could eat Clif bars along the way and not get an upset stomach. No problems there, so I am happy.

One of the tips for long distance running I have read is the importance of taking walking breaks, especially for beginners. I took a five-minute walking break every hour. I think this probably helped, but I was still pretty tired and sore by the end. I am not sure if I just need more training, or something else, but I would like to get to the point where I can run an easy marathon and not feel sore at the end.

It was a great day. The only bummer was the one-hour train ride home. That is when my legs started to tighten up.

I wonder if I will manage a Sunday run.