Twenty Miler #2

My marathon schedule is funny... the interval workouts remind me of what I am not (fast) and the long workouts remind me of what I am - capable of going for quite a while.

Sunday called for a 20 miler at 8:15-8:30 pace. Went with my neighbor for the first 5, though and - like neighbors will - we pushed the pace. I ended up @ 8:07 for the first five and kept it up to the mid-point.

At the mid-point, I bumped into another guy 13 miles into a 20 miler headed in my direction. We were going mostly the same pace, but ended up going around 7:57 for the next seven miles. After I left him, I hit the the 18 mile mark and realized I had a decent shot to average 8:00 for the whole run with a good last 2 miles. So I pulled out a 7:36 and a 7:44 and came in with six seconds to spare. Two days later, I'm a little more sore than I should be, but not too bad.

In other news, I think I'm running a half-marathon this weekend. The plan calls for 13 miles at 7:43 pace and wouldn't you know it, the Harrisburg Half is this Sunday. This would give me a chance to run some of the same roads the marathon will be on. I do have another half scheduled for the end of the month, but as I long as I run this one like I'm supposed to, recovery should be fine. So for now, that's the plan.

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