It's the Big One ... 22 Miles

OBJECTIVE
22 mi.@ 7:46-8:36

ACHIEVED
22.0 mi.@ 8:39/mi.

5:09 AM 75° 88% 3 mph

Good run today. Randy scheduled a multi-loop route that allowed those wanting more mileage to start early before coming back to the starting point 90 minutes later to pick up others who were going shorter. After our run, we met from breakfast at Buffalo Grill.

Since St. George is a week before the Chicago marathon which many of the others are doing, my 22-miler comes a week before there's. So I was the "high mileage guy" for today. The total mileage of the run was +18. Since I needed 22, I got to Memorial Park early for a 3-mile loop before the 5:30 am start.

The first loop was 8 miles. Along for that run was Augie, Stacey, Josh, Randy, and me. We went down Allen Parkway to Sabine Bridge then back to the park. We were a bit worried about mud from yesterday's rain but it turned out that it wasn't a problem.

Back at Memorial Park swimming pool, we met Laurie, her cousin, Duane, Jon, William, and Aaron. John Colleti had also joined the early group about a mile before we got back to the park. So the second loop group was large, rested and full of energy. It made the back half of my total run pretty fun.

I felt fine throughout. I pushed the pace a little bit over my solo 3-miler then the pace was easy from the outset with the early group. This was fine for me. We were running a bit late in meeting the group so picked it up over the last mile back to the park. The pace bounced around with the second group. Over the last three miles I went 7:59, 7:53, and 7:53. I felt pretty good doing it. I think taking the day off yesterday helped me feel pretty good bringing it home today.

Yesterday's off day wasn't planned but I had a 7:30 am meeting in the office and only gotten home the office at 11:30 pm the night before. I needed rest. I thought I would get the run in during the day but ended up tied up throughout with meetings - both scheduled and impromptu - and the filing of the federal tax return. Thankfully .... Having this pressure-filled workweek during the same week as my peak marathon training wasn't that nice. But the load at work should taper off just as I'm now starting my marathon taper.

PRE RUN
weight=161.5
oatmeal w/brown sugar & skim milk

POST RUN
SlimFast
water, grapefruit juice & 3-egg omelet w/Canadian bacon, Swiss cheese, tomatoes & onions
Later, strawberry-banana smoothie