Long-ish

I met Shane in Decatur to attempt a long run.  I had no confidence.  I know that Shane is in much better shape than I am, and even when I'm in great shape, he's much faster than I am. The plan was for 18, but we did 16.  Wow, I was surprised.

I had several things going for me on this run.  I took a couple of easy days before today's run.  We had a small break in the weather (though it was HOT at the end, like 85F or so).  The pace of the run was modest (probably painfully slow for my speedster partner), and I fueled early and often.  But still, I made it 16 miles with no pain and I felt GREAT after the run.

I think I'm ready to continue with this marathon training thing.  Whether or not 3:00 is realistic still remains to be seen, but I feel ready to train.  I'm kinda excited about this.  I hated taking the time off.  I like running and I like higher mileage.  I broke the 50 mile mark this week with two days off.  I don't feel the least bit beat up for it, either.  (I know that will change.  Marathon training catches up with you and you inevitably go through a phase of feeling completely drained.)

Let's start week 2.