Marathon-pace long run - 18 miles w/ 14 @ marathon pace. 10:21 am, 55-58° F, 12% humidity, wind 3 ENE. Dang, that was hard. I got a late start. I wish I could say it was because I slept in, but I didn't sleep in. I got up at 6:00 and spent all morning doing things for the family, and then finally went running after they were all off to their destinations or settled. I've been running so slowly all week, I doubted my ability to hit marathon pace for 14 miles. While I need marathon pace to be about 8:00 in order to run a 3:30 marathon, for this run I set my marathon pace goal at a more realistic 8:20. I was just slightly over that pace for a couple of miles, but under that pace for the average of the whole 14 miles. So I feel good about this run even though I feel like I've been hit by a truck. I actually cheated on the run a little bit and took a few breaks. I stopped at the turn around and took a gel. I also took two pit stops and a couple of other breaks where I paused my watch and just rested for a couple of minutes. I am very glad to have this week over with. AP: 8:35. Splits: 10:10, 9:55, 9:33, 9:16, 8:20, 8:17, 8:18, 8:20, 8:19, 8:13, 8:18, 8:22, 8:10, 8:06, 8:07, 8:26, 8:11, 8:05.
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