20 miles

I did my 20 mile run Saturday. It went okay. Nothing spectacular, but also no major issues. Just another long slow run.

Fortunately we got out early - a little before 7AM. It was light enough that we didn't need our lights. I really didn't want to have to lug my bike light around all that time, although I guess Jane could have taken it. She only had to do a 10k.

Looking back at other years I probably ran this one a little slower than most. Which is what I'm usually trying to do. They say you should try to make the 20-mile run last about as long as you think the marathon will take you. It didn't take me that long. This year it was around 3 hours 50 minutes. I think previously I've done 20 mostly between 3:35 and 3:45. So I suppose those are all pretty close given the amount of time.

One little glitch was during mile 11. My watch went haywire and it said I did a 22:40 mile. Which is insane! I didn't even stop. It was probably more like a 10:40. I thought the watch would compensate for it on the next mile or something, but it didn't. Strange. I hate it when my watch does stuff like that. It has been working fine, now I don't know if it's going to make it through the marathon or not. I suppose in the grand scheme it won't matter either way. Still...

This week I really drop in mileage, doing a 5/4/5/12. It drops even more next week to 4/3/4/8. So after Saturday's 12 miles I won't have anymore double-digit runs until the marathon. Yippee! 

I did the 5 miles this morning at a 9:20 pace. The last couple were 8:40. Still I have a feeling this year's marathon may be slower than the rest. I just haven't had any speed on longer runs. Which, I know you're not supposed to worry about on the long runs, but you know me. It's not like it matters though. My only goal is to finish. Hopefully I can do that.

Fortunately I'm feeling pretty good physically. No major injuries, and the only minor problem is my right heel. The fascia bothers me some, but I try to massage it as much as I can, and most of the time I don't notice it. Otherwise I don't have any blisters, soreness, or anything. I'd like to keep it that way for the next 3 weeks anyway. I also hope to avoid catching anything too.

I can't really say I've started getting excited for the event yet, but I am pretty happy to have the 20 miles done and see the weekly mileage drop. It's almost here!