10/16/04 - Saturday

Saturday - Overcast, windy, in the mid 50's. 12:10pm. 20 miles! So this was the big one, the one that would tell me if I even have a shot at 26.2. Happy to report it was pretty good and have confidence if all things are equal on race day I will complete the Marathon in my goal time. I seemed to have fueled up pretty well, I had oatmeal with honey and almonds, and OJ. Before I headed out to Rockland Lake I had a banana water and more OJ. I met Jerome there, and it made a big difference mentally running with someone for that long of a time. We looped around the lake for the first 4 miles and went around the ring road the second time. I also went up the golf course road which was a pretty steep grade (5%) Jerome asked if I was trying to kill him. At the 5 mile mark my Achilles started barking (that's for you Anthony). This of course did not make me happy since I still had 15 miles to go. On the north side of the lake we merged back onto the loop. When we got back to the South side we re-fueled at the car at that point we were at 8.75 miles. So far our pace fell between 11:00-12:00/mile. At the 10 mile mark we walked for a mile, which in hindsight was not the greatest of ideas, when it was time to start running again, it really hurt my knees. It felt like I was running bone on bone at my knees. We stuck to the 4 mile loop, and at the 16 mile mark I passed a milestone on distance ran. At 16.25 We stopped to refuel again and I had a banana and some Hammer Gel. With a little over a mile to go, Jerome wanted to walk and I continued on.. my pace was up to 8:30/mile and the last .1 I sprinted up to a 6:30 pace. I was pleased to have so much energy left. My Achilles was still hurtin, but it didn't hurt any more at 20 than it did at 5! So I learned that I can run through the nagging pain and I can fuel myself properly as so not to hit the wall! week to race day..cannot wait.
Side note: Karen was there for me immediately after the run with bagels and juice... I am truly blessed!