22 Miles

"Brrrrrrrrrrr"

You know, the worst part about the post run ice bath is the first 2 minutes. After that, the legs go numb. In the summer, it's a pretty good way to get your core temperature down while you pamper the gams.

Saturday, I ran 22 miles, and it wasn't horrible. It was the last, biggest, long run 'til the 26th. I hit a bit of the infamous Wall at about mile 18. I was probably dehydrated a bit, and I should've loaded a few more carbs into me in the days leading up to the run. I only ate a muffin with coffee for my breakfast. I've read many sources that say anything you eat the morning of the marathon doesn't really help you in the race. I wasn't 100% satisfied with the run, but I should really just focus on the positive: My sinuses were generally well-behaved, (even considering the wind I encountered) therefore, my stomach was stellar(!!) I also ran it with 7 lbs of Gatorade strapped to my back, and I had about 5,000 feet of altitude gain (and loss). It looked like this:

22 miles

Time: 3:21

Av pace: 9:09/mi

Av heart rate: 160 bpm

Calories burned: 2336

Ascent/Descent: 4834 feet

Easter Sunday, my legs were stiff a bit, but really, they felt pretty good. Today is a rest day, my back is tight, I will stretch, but it's manageable. All in all, I'd say, I'm feeling pretty good about where I'm at.

With this saturday's 13 miler, I will try and get to bed super early, so that I can get up super early, and do a dry run of my morning routine- the eating, getting up and ready in darkness, there's a 4 a.m. shuttle ride to consider and then I'll try and start the run close to 6:45 a.m. wearing the new long sleeve top I bought for the marathon.