Zwanzig!

With the disclaimer that this was not a high-quality 20. About 5 1/2 hours - could have been better, but I hit The Wall (with a resounding "thunk") at around 17 miles, and probably took about 40-45 minutes to slog in the last two miles. Still, I'll take it.

Body Glide would have been a good idea for this one, as it turns out. I put on a couple of bandaids, but the suckers came off somewhere around the 13 mile mark, with predictable results for my poor shirt.

Funfzehn!

Ran 15 yesterday. It went pretty well, expect for the fact that Kansas City is one massive hill! I was on Grand for the 13th and 14th mile - and from 22nd St. to 9th St. it's one big hill. On the plus side, DC is not a massive hill, so it should feel easy in comparison.

I'm hoping to get in a 20 miler and a 22 miler (with Dad) before the marathon. This is much better than I've done either of the last two marathons, so I'm feeling decent about it.

I am struggling to keep up with my morning runs. I'm really good at coming up with reasons not to get out of bed!

Oh, and God Bless Body Glide.

Ow! I feel good!

I think it's a sign that my running form is coming back when I can run 2 1/2 miles fairly easily, including the second half (which is almost all uphill) without stopping. Yay.

Acht

This was my planned 8 miles before next weekend's 20 (or whatever). Went fine - felt reasonably good throughout. I'm liking my water-bottle belt.

Back on the Wagon

Just did a 3 miler. These last couple of weeks have been INSANE, so I haven't been running. :( But I'm back!

I think I'm going to do a warm up long run this week, since I've gotten a bit out of running shape. Probably 10-12 miles. Then I'm hoping to get that dratted 16 miler in the next weekend.

Dad's on top of things, so Erin and I need to get on that! :D

Can anyone tell me why 16 is so dratted hard? Why? Why?

But a necessary run if one aspires to breaking the tape (or staggering across the finish line) in a marathon. And I, good folk, more or less successfully completed my 16-mile run today. A little under 4 hours, which is not particularly scintillating, but I'll take it. I'm pondering whether to settle for 18 in two weeks (ironically, I just typed "eeks" instead of "weeks" - subconscious turmoil?) or to go for the Big Enchilada of 20, using the tried-and-true hell route of two laps around Longview. Decisions, decisions.