"Easy" 20 miler

Well, I made up for my sloth of last week by running my long run early.  This morning -- not on a weekend.  We have more travel plans and this was the only day it was going to happen.  So I set my alarm, got up at 6:15 and off I went.  It was a gorgeous morning to run, about 65, sunny and low humidity.  Oh, and I forgot my iPod at the office, so no tunes.

I am a night owl, and for me to get up this early is really hard.  In fact, I got up early and ran earlier this week on Wednesday also.  Again that was travel dictated.

I can't post my splits yet, but I went 20.17 at 8:22 pace.  That is faster than I should have run them (target pace was 8:45), but couldn't make myself slow down.  I know I will pay for that effort later in the training program.

My Garmin was great today. I take back all the bad things I've ever said about it. Well, not really. But it was awesome to have real time pace and splits and distances. Love Garmy when it works the way you want it to.

In deciding what route to run -- my hilly route or my flat route, I opted for the flat route.  This is a long run for me and I didn't want to add to the challenge by including an elevation gain of 1000 feet into it.  So, as I was running, I opted for the "easy" route.  I chuckled to myself -- as if running 20 miles is ever easy.  So I call this my "easy" 20 miler.

I am pretty beat, but OK really.  My knees are stiff and I am not moving real fast.  But no real blisters, no lost toenails, no ITB tightness.  But a massage would really feel oh so nice.

I have to be pleased with this run.  It was a long run at a good pace and didn't just destroy me.  I didn't hit the wall, and while I was ready to quit, I could have continued if that was my goal.  It sure was nice to get home though.