20 Miles, what, WHAT!!?!

Holy crap Thunder Road Marathon is less than 3 weeks away!!! 

I think I am supposed to start tapering, but since I have never really had a plan, I think I will stick to running whenever I am in the mood, for however long I feel like.  I did my first 20 mile run on Saturday, and I could not be more excited for my marathon!  I was really nervous after I did my 18 mile run because I was having so many stomach issues, but Saturday could not have been a better day.  I had some good friends in town for the weekend, and it was really difficult to be disciplined the night beforehand since everyone wanted to stay up late and drink.  But I was going to get up at 5:30 and do my 20 mile run, and that is exactly what I did. 

Run For Your Life was hosting a preview run, featuring the second half of the Thunder Road marathon course, so I joined the group 4 1/2 miles into my run, and running with a group makes long runs so by so much more quickly.  Throughout the course of my run, I met 2 interesting guys that had some great training tips and inspiring comments.  The first guy I met was in his mid 60s and had run at least 5 marathons that year!  He usually runs about 3:40, which is what I was secretly hoping to run.  At one point during my run, I checked my watch and we were running 8:15 minute miles... I had no idea we were running so fast!  The second guy I met was an executive coach who had also done several marathons.  I expressed how nervous I was about my race and he assured me that I was prepared and would be able to finish the marathon.  He pointed out that if I pushed too hard, it might be hard to PR on my second race.  He suggested that my first goal for the marathon was to have several interesting conversations during the race, rather than worry about time.  Although I really like his idea, I think that I will still shoot for running under 4 hours.

This was my second run using Honey Stingers, and I have been really happy with them.  They are much easier to eat, and I feel like I am getting enough energy from them.  This is also my second long run without drinking coffee beforehand.  I had thought that I was running better with caffeine, but I think I might have been full of crap before.  I think that I will try to keep running without drinking coffee.  It's not like I am addicted or anything!