Saturday

Endure: verb
1. to hold out against; sustain without impairment or yielding; undergo:
2. to continue to exist; last

Today, I endured 18.6 miles through what felt like the whole freakin' city of Atlanta. A few takeaways to share...
I thought I had definitely run 19, so to fall even a little short was mildly disappointing.

On the positive side, I felt strong the entire way! This is the longest I've run so far during this particular training segment and i felt much stronger today than i did 2 weeks ago when I only ran a bit over 14. The questions begs to be asked, "why?"
"why did i feel so much stronger today?" and such explains one of the reasons why running and i have had such a long love affair: because it ALWAYS allows for self-reflection. Just like many professionals have coaches and film tape to review their performance, the middle of the pack runner like myself can only use onself to see and review what occurred. I look to my nutritional intake during the run; 3 GELS. These definitely helped! I look to the past week when i received a wonderful, yet painful massage from a woman who really knew what she was doing. I clenched my teeth and ached while she massaged my beaten up body, only to feel the benefits days later! Thanks, G. I also look to my decision to completely rest from running the past 2 days and eat enough. So, all these things together helped me out there today and then of course, there were other things too: the very mild weather, for one. Lastly, I have to give myself credit because I endured. I lasted. and i even enjoyed it. That's the thing about running. YOU CAN ALWAYS STOP. During one's training, there is never a finish line. There is never a tape to break or someone to blow a horn and you can stop. It's all up to you. Today, i just thought, well...the longer I go, the better for me. I ran for 3 hours, 13 minutes. Very slow, but i am not too concerned about that. I feel fairly certain I will finish the marathon in the same vicinity of my others...in the 4:20 area, plus or minus. That would be good considering this will be the hillest course I have yet faced! My dream of finishing under 4:15 is over. And that's ok...there is always another one to shoot for.

Cheers!