20 miles!!!

This morning's run was a 20 mile run out on the "Rail Trails". After the 18 mile run where I basically fell apart, I was NOT looking forward to it.
At. All.

The Rail Trails are a good 45 min from my house. That meant leaving by 5AM for a 6AM run. Which meant getting up around 3:30 to eat and get ready to go.

This morning it was 52 degrees, 93% humidity in fog and light rain. The temp and humidity remained constant throughout the run. The rain slowed to an intermittent misting under an overcast sky. At 6:00 for the start of the run, it was dark, really dark.

Both Group 7 pace leaders were there today along with 24 others of us in Group 7. My friend, TJ, and I had decided that we were not going to repeat the 18 mile fiasco. TJ had completed the 18 mile run with the group, but had felt so bad after that she was ready to quit the marathon training altogether. Last week's 7 mile run at the correct pace convinced her to stay with it. So, we told one of the pace leaders that we would be sticking to the correct pace regardless of what they did.

And we did.

Running the correct pace kept me from dehydrating and getting overly tired. The only difficulty I had today was ITB related. The outside of my left knee started hurting around mile 8. I ignored it and kept going. At mile 15, it was pretty intense pain. So, I walked about a quarter of a mile. While walking, my knee felt fine. Once I started running again, the pain came back immediately. I knew then it was ITB. But, I decided to keep going, pain or not.

I finished the 20 miles. Yes, it hurt physically. But, mentally, it felt great!