Last Long Run

Yesterday morning I headed out for my last long run, my second 20 miler. I was nervous about the run because the girls had been off all week and were both getting up in the night. My sleep this whole week were just in little 2 hour chunks. The night before my run was no different. I went to bed around 11 and got up with Grace twice before finally getting up at 6:30. And I sure was not feeling it when my alarm went off. But after 5 minutes of debating the worth of the run, I dragged myself out of bed and downstairs. I ate two waffles with peanut butter, drank a coffee, pumped a bottle for Grace, and got dressed. I was trying out my marathon outfit to make sure everything was comfortable - new shorts, Team in Training race shirt, new socks, etc.

Even though I did not enjoy my last 20 mile route I didn't have enough time to find another one. So I did the same route but backwards. And it made a world of difference! From the get go I had an amazing run. First of all, it was much much cooler than my last 20 miler. It was really chilly starting off and never got very hot. The sun was shining and it couldn't have been any prettier. So that lifted my spirits. I made a playlist that included the book America by Jon Stewart intermixed with tons of great music. That seemed to help too. I also didn't stop to walk or drink as much as I did last time. I didn't carry any drink on me which was more comfortable and I had Jeff hide Gatorade and water every 3 miles around my route. One time I couldn't find one and just kept running until the next. So that seemed to work out well too.

The whole run seemed to go by very quickly. And I guess it did because I finished in 3 hours and 2 minutes which was 18 minutes faster than my last 20 miles. And the greatest thing was that I didn't feel completely wiped. I remember when I was one mile from finishing I thought to myself, "I can't believe this is the end. I could totally go for a couple more miles." I guess that's good since I will have to go for another 6 in two weeks! All in all, I am so glad that I ran a second 20 mile run. It has boosted my confidence and my excitement for the marathon. My goal is to break 4 hours and if I can run as well as I did Saturday morning, that should be a definite possibility.