Ugh. I just dropped an ugh. In hindsight, perhaps skipping yesterday's run would have led to a faster outcome today. That said, I'm satisfied to be finished for the week. This run was killer. Winter temps came back; when I started at 6:30 a.m. it was 27 degrees. I ran to 500 S. and legacy trail, then home for the first 9.6. Everything was coming in around 8;30 pace. Then I met my sister, and we headed up to the shoreline trail. She was a great sport to come with, and those killer ascents were killer. She kept saying, between gasps, "You shouldn't EVER have your watch on for runs like this." Getting back to pavement for the last 5 miles was great, unfortunately she was going to be late for her son's swim meet, so we stopped at a friend's and called for a ride for her. I still had two miles to go. I got a bit of a boost, and did mile 19 at 7:30 pace. Although this run was slow, it probably did a lot for me. The early start was good practice for race day. Being tired from the beginning due to last night's effort made it so I was really feeling some stuff toward the end of the run. I won't be in uncharted territory on race day. I noticed bonking around mile 14. It was so cold, I wasn't drinking near as much as my last 20 miler, so I was very depleted. No gu this time, either. It was good practice to just keep running. The slow overall time doesn't bother me. I had a pit stop at the rec center I left my watch on for, and those trail miles are really challenging. I think they are doing me a lot of good. I'd rather do intervals climbing hills than running circles fast. | 