2.18.2007

Against myself

I overslept.

Rain swept through town. Sun was predicted but so were high winds in the 20 mph range. It was in the high 40s. I put away the tights and pulled on gloves and an ear warming band.

I had a bagel with my secret blueberry jam from Maine. Sadly, it is almost gone.

I drove to Park Avenue knowing what was ahead of me and that there was no one to do it with but myself. The Sunday bunch were already 30 minutes into their run.

The first half mile was nothing to be excited about. It was cold. I was stiff. My form stunk. I was not fired up. I implemented running Plan B.

I took the first turn and advantage of a tail wind to run the 11 mile course in reverse. That allowed me to cross paths with my usual Sunday crowd. Kim and Mary came by, asking how far I was going today. "22," I hollered.

Then I ran into Chris and Bob at their 7th mile and my 5th. I declined their invitation to turn and run with them. I was not inclined to recalculate my running route for the morning.

As it was, I ran 22 miles on my own in 3:27:44, a 9:07 pace, not counting the time wasted to eat Blox and drink water.That was just as fast as two weeks ago when I went 20.2 miles.

PIT ROW NOTES: My right calf had some tightness for awhile and restarting after water breaks was not easy. Plus I didn't use enough body glide today. Still I finished fast and set my mind on the late miles as being the last miles of the marathon.

7 comments:

Maddy said...

Cold and Windy indeed this morning!

I'm sure you were done with you run before I was even truly awake! It sounds like you made the best of it solo with a nice pace too.

Great Job David!

Neese said...

that's so awesome..22 miles, 3:27:44.., sounds like you will be more than ready come 34 days from now. so what do you do after a long run like that, veg all day or try to keep limber?

Joe said...

Good run, especially the mental part. Overcoming the lousy conditions for the start...simulatiing the final miles of Atlanta in your late miles.

You are setting yourself up well, David.

Darrell said...

One down, one to go. Nicely done as well. What are you thinking for MP the day of the race? Sub 4 looks doable based on this run.

21stCenturyMom said...

I feel a PR coming on....

Runner Susan said...

Does secret jam make you run faster?

jeanne said...

body glide..a girl's best friend! nice work. you are SOOOO ready!