faster with age

     Today was my last run over 20 before Boston. The weather sounded terrible for this morning with lots of snow and wind. When I left this morning it was snowing but not sticking to the roads. It was hard to know how to dress. It wasn't that cold but with the weather changing you never know when the wind can start blowing the snow hard and it can feel a whole lot colder quickly. I wound up carrying a fleece type jacket tied around my waist the whole run just in case but never used it. I went 24 miles that included a lot of hills including the 2 highway hills that climb almost 300 ft in about a mile coming and going. I averaged 7:56 for the first 8 miles then 7:33/mile ave for next 16 miles. I timed it so that I would go up the last big hill at mile 18 and have 6 left to run after that similar to Boston only this hill is over twice what heartbreak hill appears to be. I felt pretty spent after topping the hill and trying to get back to a better pace over the next mile but soon got feeling better. I averaged 7:15 for the last 3 miles and 7:01 last mile. I was very glad to be done but actually felt better at the end than the 22 miler I did 2 weeks ago on the same route. The run took 3:04:34 which is a time I would be happy with in the marathon. Overall pace for 24 miles was 7:41.