March 26th: A Subdued Milestone

Today was "kinda long" day. Three months ago, we would have just called this "long."

The snow moved through without too much bother last night -- a little coating on the grass, but that's it. However, the wind was picking up this morning, and it has gotten progressively harder throughout the day so far. Even though the temps were OK for an outdoor run, I'm glad I didn't do it -- I think the wind would have killed me.

There's really not much to tell about my treadmill run. I've been looking for accumulated fatigue, and I certainly found it. Since yesterday's run was a real push, I was definitely not on fresh legs. And I'd say I was feeling a little tired even before I hit the 5k mark this morning. But there's no use in punting now -- I have just a week and a half until the taper. And I know I have it in me to go, so I went.

This is how I felt after 11.1 miles.

The second half of the run was just a slog, and I'd like to believe that the last few miles were similar to how I'll feel when I get into the 20s in the marathon. I kept the pace reasonable except in the very last few minutes, and when it was all done, I'd logged 11.1 miles at a 9:31 pace -- that's right around 6.3 mph. I gave some thought to getting to 11.25 -- not exactly a huge amount more -- but I was done done done. 17.6 miles in two days and 23 for the week so far is puh-lenty.

Tomorrow will be a junk 5 -- nice easy pace. It'll be on the belt, since we're expecting record low temps and still some wind. It will also be exactly one month until the race. Still need a game plan for Saturday, and I have to get to WOW on Sunday for some core work. I am really feeling weak in the mid-section, and that just won't do.

Total miles since starting the blog: 505.6