Sigh of relief

OK, I feel much, MUCH better now. Wind was tough when I ran east on the loop, but other than that, I had nothing to complain about. Weather was perfect. I hope it's like that on May 3rd.

I made it to 20 miles very relaxed, no fatigue, easy as can be. I was surprised on how good I felt at that point. I really focused on not overrunning, getting out too fast, and bonking again. Wanted to run nice & steady miles, which I feel I did better than usual (see below).

At this point, I decided I was definitely running 3 more miles. "They" say, the pain starts at 20 miles. So being able to run 20 didn't necessarily give me a ton of confidence that I can run 26...strong. I know I can get to 26, but I wanted the confidence that comes from having already run 23. Telling myself I can gut through 3 miles is much different than trying to convince myself that I can gut through 6. So I ran 3 more miles, for a total of 23.

Miles 21-22, I wasn't trying to run any different, but they came in a little faster than most of the rest. Mile 23, I decided I'd kick it up, but just a little, to see how my legs would react. I could have run it much harder. I had plenty of gas in the tank, and freshness in the legs. When I was done, I felt just fine. Legs feel great right now. No pain, no lactic acid, nothing. The only issues I had while running was a little tightness in the front of the hips (no surprise), and the balls of my feet are sore (they are hurtin', big-time). I can help the feet issue. Just need to wear a slightly thicker pair of socks. I'm glad I experimented with that today. Also, just put a pair of Yankz shoestrings on my new shoes. Left one was a bit too loose. By the time I finished running, I had the beginings of a blister on the inside of my left heel. Easy fix.

Also, I took a cooler with my water bottles, and extra fluid to refill. I wore my belt, with just one bottle. Depending on the weather on race day, I may wear it with just the one bottle that I can fill to carry fluid with me, if I feel I need to towards the end. I didn't find that too encumbering.

So, all in all, I'm pretty pumped. I'm ready, I think.

Mile/Time
1-9:05 11-9:03 21-8:49
2-9:15 12-9:00 22-8:57
3-9:02 13-9:13 23-8:12
4-9:01 14-9:01 Total Time: 3:27:21
5-8:51 15-8:50
6-9:06 16-9:12
7-9:14 17-9:08
8-9:06 18-9:08
9-9:06 19-9:06
10-9:05 20-8:49