Long run. 8:45 am, 48-60° F, humidity 70-50%, wind 6 S and then calm, overcast the whole time, just a sprinkle of rain at the beginning. I'm not sure about that wind figure I got from a wunderground weather station. It felt windier to me than that. But the wind was definitely from the south, which was a pain because my big uphills were all heading south. Marathon training is hard. I sometimes wonder why I do it. Other people needed the cars this morning, so I ran on the roads instead of going to the trail. I ran my 10 mile loop twice, and then my 2 mile loop. I figured that way I could bail after the first loop if I felt like it. I did make a stop in my house after the first loop, used the bathroom, and had a raspberry-flavored gel and some water. I didn't carry my fuel belt with me and I guess it was warmer than I'm used to because during the second loop, I stopped in a Walgreen's just after mile 16 and got a big drink from their drinking fountain. Then 4 miles later I stopped in to a rec center and got a big drink from their drinking fountain. It takes a little extra time, but I think maybe I prefer this approach to running with that dang fuel belt. The first 5 miles of the 10 mile loop are the hardest, particularly the 3rd and the 5th miles. And of course I had to do them twice. So on the second loop, I just told myself that if I could make it through the first 5 miles, then everything else would be easy, which is not quite true. In about mile 8 of the 10 mile loop I run past a private Christian high school. They had a track meet going on today. It was fun to watch the pole vaulters as I ran past and I saw a lot of high school runners warming up on the road that goes past the school, which I was running on. The second time, there was a group of 3 boys and one of them was running up and down onto the grass and jumping and just looked full of energy. All of the boys were grinning. But I was too tired at that point to take much energy from it.
I'm just glad to have this run over with. If I hadn't gone the full distance today, I would have tried to do it next Saturday, and I really don't want to have to attempt 22 again next Saturday. Incidentally, this completes mesocycle 2 in my training plan. Now I just have to survive mesocycle 3, which is only 4 weeks long. AP: 9:08. Splits: 9:55, 9:32, 9:34, 9:02, 9:14, 8:52, 8:42, 8:54, 8:51, 8:57, 8:58, 9:05, 9:10, 8:45, 9:05, 8:55, 8:45, 9:02, 9:13, 9:24, 9:26, 9:29.
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