This should have been the last off three 20 milers prior to Houston and instead it was the first. With work and family demands, plus the fact that I have been sick off and on.....the training hasn't been there. I have gone back and forth as to whether or not I run it at all, run and pace the two other girls I am going with or run it as a long training run somewhere in the 3:45 - 4:00 range. A lot of how this run would go would make that decision. Met the group at the store and ended up on my own for 20 miles.....not really what I was hoping for when I paid my $100 to run with a group....I had decided to start near a 9 min mile and then pick up slowly through out and I actually did a pretty good job sticking to the plan. The route was for 14 miles and I felt great the entire 14. Started back out to pick up six more and the next loop ended up being 4 and I was back at the store for water. The last two miles were long and ugly. I was trying to loop the trails in the park but did not want to get too far out. It was ugly and I was tired. I was actually really pleased with how the run went. I felt great up through 17 and then it progressively got worse, but if you consider my training, it isn't too bad. I am in no shape to run a 3:25 but I could eek out a 3:45 - 4:00 time. Going to do another 20 this Saturday and a little speedwork between now and the 15th. No real taper, maybe just a little the week of, but that is okay. Avg Pace 8:39
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