At last, a long run I feel good about! Sometimes there are benefits in getting out of bed at 5 a.m. and starting a run before the rest of the world has awaken. Today was definitely one of those days. I ran 15 miles, and ran at a faster pace the last 1.5 miles to finish strong. I also managed the run better. After the first four miles I stopped by the house and ate a gel thingie (don't know what else to call it) and had a drink. Then at eight miles I downed a couple gel thingies and strapped on the drink belt for the rest of the outing. The temperature was around 60 degrees - just about perfect. Even after the sun came out I managed to stay in the shade on my route, which I changed in order to take advantage of that shade.
After a rough several months it was really nice to have a good run, especially with all the aborted and scaled-back runs during all the heat of summer. The race is just over a month away, and this was a key run in getting to 26.2 miles. This week I'll be in St. Louis and plan to keep it going so that next Saturday's 18-miler will be another good one. Seriously, I was beginning to wonder if I'd get to the point of being able to run a marathon in a month. If this one had gone poorly I would have reevaluated if a marathon was still a possibility. But no need. Now I feel it's certainly possible, and if my speedwork will fall into line and I have some good outings on those a good race is a strong possibility. We'll see how it goes.
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