More about running 22 miles

I'm so happy the run is behind me. I figure the next time I do 22, it will be a little bit easier, because with each long run I learn lots of good stuff. Here are some notes from this one:

• Because of my AM/PM sugar packet experience, I did carry both a cell phone and some money this time! See what an experienced runner girl I am!
  
• I think I'd be better off taking a day off before the long run. On Monday night I did speed work (7 miles) and on Tuesday I did LOTS of kettlebell swings. So on Wednesday, my glutes and hamstrings were sore and it might be better to be fresh for long distances.
• I tried Accelerade for the first time this run, and I liked it. They tell you they have a 4:1 carb/protein ratio and that it's best for endurance and recovery. All I can say is that I didn't have too much post-run tummy weirdness, and that's a good thing, right?
• This run had two distinct halves. The first 12 miles went really well, and I averaged a 9:05 pace. By mile 15, I had a huge cramp and was considering quitting. And those last 7 miles were amazingly tough. I think I averaged almost 10 minutes per mile, and that was only because I was pushing to go fast (HA!).
• What got me through those last 7 miles were stubbornness (I did NOT just run 15 miles to have them go to waste!) and my marathon runner neighbor Jan. I ran into her at mile 15. She just did a 4:06 marathon two weeks ago, and is running the Nike half this weekend. She asked me how many miles I was running and I told her. She said, "You're doing GREAT!" (and she IS the most encouraging person on the planet). Then she asked why I didn't have a water bottle, and said she always gets super thirsty the last few miles of a long run. So I took her advice and ran home to get a water bottle (like most of my runs, I was never more than about 4 miles from my house and at this point I was 2 blocks away!). And the whole last 7 miles I would think, "I want to stop running!" and then I would think, "Jan says I'm doing GREAT!" Thank you God for putting Jan there to help me through this run.
• I will never again schedule ANYTHING after a long run. (I trained a client 45 minutes after I stopped running.) It's just too taxing. What I really want (I think I may have written this before) is to be like Dean Karnazes who just gets home from a run and immediately starts playing with his kids and enjoying life. I'm more like "Where's the computer (must log miles on weblog and on dailymile!)?", "Where's the shower?" and "Where's my bed?". It may sound nuts, but I really do want to be able to run 15 - 20 miles and just get back into life. Is that unrealistic? (Don't answer that unless you answer really nicely, ok?)