26.2-3.2=

Wow. I can't believe I actually ran 23 miles continuously. I can honestly say that when I started my training all the way back in July, I couldn't have imagined running for three and a half hours. I thought making it to 6 miles was a feat... which, I suppose, still is, as there are many people who can't even do that. But now, my perspective has been totally skewed. A six miler is a mid-week "short" run, a half-marathon is standard Saturday fare, and a 23 mile run doesn't sound all that intimidating. Now I just have to tack on those other 3.2 miles and I'll cross the finish line vertical, which is my goal. If I could finish under 4 hours, that would be nice, but not required.

So, the run (which was on Saturday, I'm a little late with this blog post)... we started at 72nd and Riverside, ran north along the Hudson to 104th Street where we turned around and heading all the way down to the southern tip of the island to the Staten Island Ferry, and continued around up the East River to 25th Street, turned around again, and ran back to 72nd, finishing with a nice lap around the track.

The morning was freezing! My excellent landlord has yet to turn on the heat, so with temperatures dipping into the low 40's overnight, my apartment was less that "warm." So I bundled up and headed out, still chilly from the night before. Thankfully the run started somewhat later than usual, so the temperature had risen somewhat by the time I got uptown. We set out around 9:20 and were supposed to run at a leisurely pace (1 min/mile slower than usual), and keep this a "social" run. For my pace group this meant running at a 10:30 min/mile... which didn't really happen and we ran the whole thing at our usual 9:30 pace. It helped that the course was completely flat!

By the end I felt totally comfortable aerobically, my quads were feeling tight and my knees were hurting a bit, but my hamstring was feeling okay, which is a good sign! It flaired up a few times during the run, but nothing too painful or consistently painful.

Now for the taper, which is going to be difficult as I know I'll be tempted to run, walk, do yoga in my normal routine... but I have to focus on the finish at this point!

17 days to go...


Let the countdown begin!