Great Long Run!

Today I ran a great 20 mile long run. I was looking to average 8:10 m/m pace for the first 15 miles and 7:42 m/m pace for the last five miles (as outlined in the Pfitzinger / Douglas plan). However, my legs felt good, and I ended up running 8:04 average pace for the first 15, between 7:30 and 7:28 for the next four, and because I was still feeling good and have an off day tomorrow, I ran the last mile faster than goal marathon pace (7:00 m/m is goal pace, mile 20 was run at 6:55). The only down side was that I had to stop four times to use the restroom. The restroom stops are getting worse instead of better. I need to address this issue before race day. I suspect the key will be to eat smaller portions. I'm doing better at eating decent foods. Now I need to just start eating less of them.

Despite the bathroom breaks, this run is a great confidence boost for me. After dealing with sore, tired legs for a good deal of last week, it feels great to hammer out a good run. I look forward to continuing to improve as I move closer to race day.

The New York City Marathon was run today. I watched the one-hour special on television. The men's race was decided by less than a second. It was a great, exciting race. Every time I see elites (men and women) running distance events, I'm amazed at their pace. They move so smoothly, it's hard to believe they're going so fast. If I were smarter, I'd probably use their example to see how important form is to efficient running. I'll try to remember this lesson when I'm running and can do something about it. I wonder if would help to video tape my running form to see how I run.