Sooo close.

I'm polishing off the end of my post-long run feast (veggie cheeseburger, loaded baked potato and spinach salad), anxiously awaiting the beginning of the Maryland-Duke game at one.  There are few things I love more, especially during the long, cold mid-Atlantic winter than ACC basketball.  The rivalries are huge and the intensity never lacks.  Watching a game is the best way to spend a Saturday afternoon, especially when you're recovering from a 20 miler.

My goal was to leave the house by 7:30 this morning, so when I was out the door at 7:35, I was really impressed.  I'm not always that punctual, especially when it comes to things like running 20 miles in the cold.  Since the snow storm, I was afraid that my favorite trails would be covered in 2+ feet of snow, so I took to the streets.  Running against traffic, I got a new perspective of some of my favorite routes, and found some new roads.  My goal was to run negative splits, so I started out liberally at a 10 minuter per mile pace.  It was hard to run that slow at first and kept reminding myself to slow down.  Once I hit the ten mile mark, I tried to aim for 9:50s instead.  There were some spots during the run that I felt really good and was able to push it below 9 minute miles after the 17 mile mark, which gave me a lot of confidence that during my race, I'll also be able to find that second (or third or fourth) winds to push a little harder.  I felt a lot better than I did during my last 20 miler a month ago.  It's reassuring that my training the past month has done something.

Also, Fairfax county is hilly as shit!  My total ascent was 1829, with a descent of 1790.  Miserable.  I know the course is a lot flatter, so that gives me a lot more confidence as well.  I have a 22-miler next Saturday and then a shorter long run the Saturday after.  I really only have two weeks left of training before my taper.  Crazy.  A month ago, it seemed like my race was so far away, and now it's only 5 weeks!

One down, two to go.

Saturday morning I completed my first of three 20+ mile runs. With Matt staying over Friday night, and feeling bad about being the runner out the longest last weekend, I opted to run alone. I woke up a little before 8, although I wish I had gotten up earlier. I got ready, ate a pb&j sandwich (my new favorite pre-long run food), had a cup of tea, and Powerade Zero, and drove down to Burke Lake Park. The weather was much nicer than last weekend, with temperatures in the low 40s compared to low 20s. I was very excited to wear my UA capris, as they are my favorite running bottoms. (I only hope that the weather is appropriate to wear them on race day.)

Twenty miles is hard! It is such a time commitment to train for a marathon and I have a new respect for people who have done it. I also feel like when I have kids, I’m definitely going to continue to run marathons so I have a really awesome excuse to get out of the house for four hours every Saturday morning. However, the run didn’t feel as good as 18 mile run the previous week. I’m not sure if my legs were fatigued, I wasn’t hydrated or what, but I’m going to work on narrowing down bad run causes the next couple of weeks. The night before the 18 mile run, I had eaten a big bowl of oatmeal around 10. I think this was great because it’s a ton of carbs, plus kept my stomach in check. I’m going to try this again before my next long run to see how I feel.

This week is one of my cut-back weeks. Usually I do light cross-training on Tuesday (like pilates or yoga), but I have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow and they are going to draw blood, so I’m going to go for another easy run tonight. I’m not sure how much they plan on taking, but I don’t want to run the risk of not being able to run tomorrow. I’m so squeamish with blood, too, so I’m really not looking forward to it. My mom would always come into the room with me whenever I would have to get a shot or have blood drawn to give me a hug when I was little. This lasted until I was about 18, when I had to drive myself to a doctor’s appointment to get a vaccination for college. I also have to fast before hand, so needless to say, I’m not looking forward to it. On the bright side, I am going into work late. Getting a physical is one of my New Year’s resolutions. Since I am training for a marathon, things like “exercise more,” “get into shape” and “lose weight” are not really applicable to me and I figure that it’s a good time to get checked out before I submit my body to even more running. My other resolutions were to start taking a Multi-Vitamin and Omega 3 supplements. Although I was a little late to start, I have been pretty good at taking them.