Four Miles Every Four Hours

Since I’m not quite ready to run 20-plus miles continuously, whether it is a training run or a race, I decided to break up my long training run: 4 miles every four hours, six times, for 24 miles total. Even with rests in between segments, this format still tests endurance by requiring me to run repeatedly on increasingly tired legs. I started at 9:30 Friday night and began my final segment at 5:30 Saturday evening, leaving plenty of time to recover before returning to work after the holiday weekend.

The 1:30 a.m. run was probably my favorite; it was quiet, peaceful, and not a single car in sight, just a few deer sleeping in the grass. At 5:30 a.m., the dogs joined me for part of the run, and by 9:30 a.m., Rylee was peeking through the window with a face I couldn’t resist, so she came along too.

As expected, the final two segments at 1:30 and 5:30 p.m. were rough. The temperature reached close to 100 degrees, so I walked most of them, and somehow chose one of my hilliest routes for the final one.

But I got it done: 24 miles completed.

Overall, my body feels good aside from some soreness and my right knee occasionally locking during the run. I’ll continue strengthening both quads to better support my knees and hopefully avoid the problems I previously experienced with my left knee.

This format was a good training decision.  I’ve done this format before covering distances from 24 to 50 miles.  This is a solid step towards running a 52K on my birthday in about a month. One more long training run next weekend, then taper before race day.