Week 22: Twenty-four miles

Ahhhhh! Okay, now, that was better! Beautiful day -- some high clouds, mostly sunny, light breeze, temperature in the mid-60s. I felt so much better than I did running in the cold.

I got started around 8:30 this morning, after futzing around with my clothes -- got dressed in the back room, with the heater, thinking, "it's too hot!" then went into the unheated part of the house and thought, "it's too cold!" Started out in my nylon/flannel running suit and gloves. Turned around and went right back into the house to take the gloves off -- it was actually warmer outside than in. Got partway around the first loop and took off my jacket. I did seven miles around the house -- about two hours, then came inside and changed into my black running pants and blue jacket, but I kept the jacket tied around my waist and never actually wore it.

Headed down the road at around 10:45 after a 12-minute break, and arrived at mom's at around 1:30. Took a 5-minute break at her place, then continued on to the park and my final seven miles -- ten loops. I used the 1:2 walk/run ratio, had a protein drink at mile 7, then GUs at mile 12 and 17. Also ate some Sport Beans while at the park, and a few bites of a Powerbar in the final hour.

I stayed pretty much on pace, finishing in 7:16, including the two breaks, or just under seven hours without them. I started to get pretty tired with three miles to go, but kept up my pace -- I was running the loops between 12:10 and 12:30 minutes, and completed all my run intervals. My right leg got a bit twingy in the second-to-last loop, but I stopped and stretched a little and it was all right for the rest of the run. I think my hamstring had tightened up and was giving me a bit of pain, but it's fine now. My shoulders got pretty sore, too, but didn't interfere with the run.

So, after the run, I went to mom's for dinner, then home to watch the Puppy Bowl. Heh. All in all, it was a good run. Finished the 24 miles in good time and without any real problems. Yay, warm weather!

I feel really good about this run. For one thing, it was great to have a good day, after how awful the 22-mile run was. Plus, I was within 2.2 miles of a marathon -- I felt that I could have done a whole marathon today if I had to, and finished it in under eight hours. So, with five more weeks of training, the real marathon should only be better.