Well, I thought today I should put in a blog entry. Sorry I haven't written in awhile but after my five day stint with Ziggy the wonder dog, I needed some down time, sleep, and shock therapy. Watching that dog takes the creative juices right out of me and I just needed some convelescing time. I'm better now. Anyways, I targeted last Sunday to be my final 20 mile training run leading up to the Whistlestop Marathon on October 11th. I set my alarm to get me up at 6am so I could be out on the road after having a bowl of shredded wheats and an energy bar. The day was pretty much idyllic. I couldn't have asked for a better day to do a long run. I overcast and a little foggy and there was a comfortable cool temperature lingering about. It was so comfortable that I even ran with out a shirt. I won't bore you with the details of the whole 20 miles (because I'm lazy and don't want to write that much) but one of the neatest parts of the run was going through the UW arboretum and encountering just a ton of wild turkeys. I have seen wild turkeys in the arb before, but not as many as last Sunday morning. A good portion of them were baby ones and was pretty neat to see because I had never seen that before. If I wasn't so keen on getting the 20 miler over and done with and breaking the pace that I was working on, I would have stopped and watched them awhile. Maybe next time. The other cool part of the run was running up West Washington near the capitol and seeing the fog ever so lightly cover the capitol dome and the bronze lady standing atop it. It was a very serene and peaceful sight and was another indellible moment of the run. As far as 20 milers go, this was one of my best ever. Starting out I was a bit achy and tired in the legs, but as the run went on I loosened up and kept getting stronger. I was very pleased when I checked my watch and found out that I averaged 7:32 pace for the entire run. That is pretty darn good when you have no support and have to generate the pace yourself. Hopefully that is a good precursor for the Whistlestop. Time will tell, though. I will get a good hint of what is to come this weekend, when I travel to La Crosse to run in the half marathon they put on during Oktoberfest. It is a fast and flat course and very conducive to good times. I did this particular race back in 2002 and it was actually my first half marathon, before I started the whole marathoning thing. I ran well back then with less training so I am hopeful of a good result this coming Saturday morning.
The day after my long run I wasn't in too much of a great mood to go for a run. I never am the day after a big training run or big race... it's just the way it is. I was tired, my legs were a little achy and I was just feeling plain indolent. It was the first day of Fall, though, and I wanted to get at least a little run in and get the remaining stiffness from the previous days run out of my legs. Once I pryed myself out of bed and shoved myself out the door, I was so happy that I decided to go. The first day of fall was just great. The air was so refreshingly cool that if I could have hugged an air molecule, I would have. It really helped wipe the drowsiness away from my eyes and made the achiness in my legs feel a little better. What a great way to start Fall! I didn't run particularly fast that morning, or far for that matter, but I didn't care. I just wanted to enjoy the run for what it was and not have to worry about distance or pace or splits. I just wanted to enjoy running for what it was... running... outside... in the Fall. It's one of the many best things life has to offer.
Sunday's workout: 20.1 > 2:31:30 > 7:32 pace
Miles last week: 51.9
Monday's workout: 5.1 > 41:02 > 8:03 pace
Miles this week: 5.1
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