Notes
The run started with the weather being in the low 40's and dropped to the high 30's when I was finishing up. It was bright out when I first started and quickly got dark around my 3rd loop. I ran 4 loops of 4 miles. I forgot to put out a stee bottle when I first started so I grabbed one out of my car trunk after the 1st loop. Legs felt pretty good the whole run. I'm definitely sore and stiff now. I tried to stretch out but I'm very lazy after my longer runs. I collapsed right in the grass as I finished. My pace for the first 13 miles was 7:04. I have to get my pace down to 6:50 and my stamina up to running 26 miles in about 14 weeks. I feel like I'm in pretty good shape at this point in my training. I definitely have some work to do. I can't afford to keep slacking on the longer runs. I need those longer runs to get my body used to that wear and tear. I also need to learn what it's like to run those distances at a faster speed. I won't stand a chance to run a sub 3:00:00 marathon if I don't start getting more serious with my training. I can't skip any more runs. Overall I am very pleased with this run. I would have liked my pace to be around 6:50 for the first 13 miles but I was still pretty close. I took a few sips of a bottle of water every loop I made. That seemed to work very well. I could have used a little more water but it worked. I ate a bagel before the run, it didn't seem to hurt but I don't thinks I like doing that. I'll try and eat a granola bar and nature valley bar before the longer runs from now on. I'll even put out a granola bar or nutri grain bar at each loop. I should experiment more with GU because I will need more than just some water and a granola bar during the marathon. This was a great training run and confidence builder.