"Race" Recap: 6-Hour Distance Classic

My longest training run in this cycle happened to fall the same weekend as the 6-Hour Distance Classic, a run put on by my local running club, the DSE Runners. This "race" involves the Crissy Field Lagoon, a one-mile loop, and a bunch of runners circling for 6 hours.

Fun!??

Originally I wanted to see how many laps I could do in 6 hours, but the more rational side of me (okay, so it was actually RoadBunner who threatened some sense into me) told me to just do my mileage for the day, then drop out to avoid burn-out before the marathon.

A fully supported run where all the nutrition, water, and Biffys I need for a long run less than a mile away sounded pretty good. The only thing that didn't sound appealing was running on a flat, gravel loop for hour after hour after hour after hour.

It did get better, though, when Ron and Karin agreed to run it as their final long run for SFM, too! And then Megan and her husband Eric expressed interest in joining us.

And so did RoadBunner.

Through Twitter, I learned that Cate, Cate's husband Mike, and Courtney could also make it. Audrey and Naomi could stop by to run laps as well.

Aron's lululemon event got canceled that same morning, so she could come run. Layla could run laps too. Jana could meet us a few hours later.

And the world exploded into love all around me!

A cloudy morning and boring-sounding long run suddenly became ANOTHER weekend reunion with this awesome running community, when originally I was planning on being out there all by my lonesome. I even had the pleasure of running a few miles with my friends beforehand, and then 17 loops around Crissy Field by myself -- but with my friends no further than a mile away.

Best long run imaginable. I loved it.

The first 7 miles were up and over the Golden Gate Bridge for some hillwork with Megan, Eric, Ron, RoadBunner, Karin, and Layla.

1: 9:18
2: 9:30
3: 8:44
4: 8:44
5: 8:30
6: 8:20
7: 8:37

Megan and me on the quiet bridge this morning!

The last 17 miles of my long run were one-mile loops around Crissy Field during the 6-hour. I was going to be happy with anything over 20 miles, but I was really shooting for 22 to 24. The great thing was that if I had any moment of wanting to quit, it was really easy to say "just one more lap." Amazingly, my legs kicked into a higher gear at mile 16, and the last 8 miles I did actually felt the best.

Not a bad background, even after 17 laps.Look closely and find Layla, Aron, RoadBunner, & Karin running on the gravel portion -- downtown San Francisco peaking over the trees.

8: 8:30
9: 8:31
10: 8:41
11: 8:27
12: 8:29
13: 8:29
14: 8:27
15: 8:31
16: 8:19
17: 8:19
18: 8:18
19: 8:12
20: 8:13
21: 8:10
22: 8:08
23: 8:16
24: 8:00

I think I'm going to do just one more lap!

Almost done.

Total distance run: 24.08 miles
Total time: 3:24:31 (8:29 pace)

Jana, RoadBunner, Karin, Layla, me, Aron, & Cate

(Yeah, some of us may have ended up at Genki for more ramen.)

After today, I KNOW I am ready for the San Francisco Marathon! I am so excited to take these next three weeks easier and focus mentally on this race. I'm STILL figuring out how to precisely word my goals for SFM (okay, so maybe I'm still thinking about my goals just a little...), and I'll post those soon. :)