Jan 25

FIT:
My longest training run in my life! A 13.1er. I'll be on a retreat for the next 5 days, so I wanted to get a run in, especially since I didn't do anything yesterday and did just a low-key 7.5 the day before that. I also wanted to see if I was in shape and un-injured enough to pursue the Marine Corps Marathon, which I've made my goal for October 2009. It's one of the top 10 best marathons, and what could be more inspiring than running past monuments in our nation's capital, being cheered on by real-life heroes?

Splits: 10:37 t, 9:13 h, 4:49 b, 8:09 w, 7:47+0:50 b, 4:54 h (where I stashed my pack, which had been holding about 1/2L of water, a fleece, a camera, and a cell. I just kept my race belt, which held 2 Gu's. It was 46:22 at this point, which is the recommended Gu-ing time, but I hadn't run 6 at that point and was still going strong, so I figured that I'd take some later on instead.), 4:24 p, 4:26 t (turned back like a suicide... a 1.5 mile suicide), 4:26... p (LOOK AT THAT SPLIT! BAM!), 4:28 h, 5:39 b, 4:40 x, 3:06 w, 3:16 x, 5:21 b, 4:50 h (took Expresso Love Gu during this leg. Tasted rather good. I was going to take my Black Cherry w/ Caffine Clif Shot Blok, but it was as solid as ice, since it left its packaging 3 months ago and had endured the cold run with me [it was around 22 degrees], so I decided to go for the Gu. I ate half the pack. It was sweetish, sort of like Molasses. It was probably more solid than usual due to the cold, so it went down nicely without sticking in my mouth or anything. I had to wait until I reached the hill where my pack was stashed to down it with water and dissolve away remaining sugar. No stomach issues.), 4:34 p, 15:38 2+ a bit extra to wring out that extra 0.04 ish to round it out to 13.1 miles in 1:52:16, well under my half time of 2:00:19, before which I had slept 0 hours and run only twice in the previous 6 weeks because of an ankle sprain. I'm now more optimistic about a reasonable marathon time. Maybe 4:30? Note: I did stop to take pictures along the way on the first leg. The time with the heavy pack was evened out by the middle 5.5 miles where I only had the belt. And I just calculated: the wm->tow->wm splits were 22:23 and 22:21... nice, huh?

As for the injury report, at around 1:26, I think... somewhere around the bridge either on the last way there or back, lower kneecap issues in both legs. Sort of went away as I maintained form, though. That's the secret to stopping emerging nagging pains. Also, chafing from tags and seams on my orange pullover. The ball of my left foot hurts, starting from the way back, starting from my last run on the trail. It started going a bit to my shins. Probably no big deal.

Cumulative mileage: 45.5+13.1 = 58.6. That did a lot to boost it. Next week will be a downer, though.