Just Another 20 Miler

 

Just another 20 miler, just another 20 miler, I kept telling myself on the way to Stony Saturday morning.  I felt confident with all of my other runs leading up to Saturday but for some reason I felt unsure and nervous when I woke up.  I am not sure why?  I did not wake up with a more soreness than normal, shooting pains, or even a re-aggravated pinched nerve.  So I simply kept going over the plan for the morning.  Simply run 20 miles nice and easy and then I get to taper for two weeks up to the Martian Marathon.  Once we started running I felt much better.  The nervousness was gone.  It turned into a really good run.  We included the golf course road into our route and I was able to run about 11.5 miles with some fellow TNT runners.  After a brief break for some fluids and a trip to the water closet I was off again for the remaining 8.5 miles.  I was hoping that I would run into someone that I knew to run with and that would help make the miles go by easier.  No one.  It seemed like I was the only one out there.  The remaining miles surprisingly went by very quickly, and except for a short period of zoning out I felt good the entire time.  I hope that I feel that good during the upcoming marathons.  Perhaps the running alone for those last miles was a lesson from above to show me that I can do this.  A little confidence builder.  There are always times during events where no matter how well you plan on sticking with a group you may end up on your own.  Don’t get me wrong I really enjoy running with others more than alone.  Good conversation and even the simple thought of keeping pace with the people you are running with really helps the miles fly by.  Now the mental challenge of tapering begins.  Thanks again to everyone that has helped me make it this far.

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