Day 100 - June 15,2010

6:11 a.m. Okay, getting ready to head out for the 20 miler....little procrastination going on here. I don't know why I am nervous....

And 20 miles later (in 3:59:12)...(with a few hours of "recovery." Recovery in this house means keeping two little children busy on summer vacation, working to get everything done to host a birthday party, and getting ready to go out of town for Paul's wedding this weekend.)

The Garmin picked a bad time to die (typical). I could not get it going this morning, and I was not able to drive the new route that was recommended to us. I didn't want to run it without seeing it, because I was afraid I would get lost. I opted to use the route Pete recommended for the first half (a 9 mile loop that included hospital hill) and then do my best to make an 11 mile loop out of our usual route, which meant doing some extra laps at the ponds. Two episodes of This American Life, one episode of All Songs Considered, and a bunch of music later, I got home feeling....well, just fine actually. The run was unbelievably smooth. No aches and pains, not a lot of boredom, and I never felt very tired. The weather was perfect. I tried out my new marathon outfit, in full, including the skirt, and was very, very comfortable (sorry again, Melinda)!

In all honesty, I'm not sure I made it 20 miles. Without the watch, I had to just do my best to calculate. I did not feel I needed to stop, but I was out there for four hours, and I'm pretty sure I went 20 (maybe even more). At this point it doesn't matter. It will go down as my longest run prior to the marathon. I think my knee actually feels better than it did a few months ago before we started. I NEVER would have expected that, and I am delighted!

Now, I am wishing Pete the best of luck tomorrow. I hope his run as a pleasant (in a 20 miler kind of way) as mine!