22 miles never felt so good

Happy dances all around, I completed my 22 mile long run last Sunday and it went very well!! I averaged a 10:27 minute pace, which is good for me with that distance and on all these hills. It was a perfect and beautiful spring day. The daffodils and crocuses are out and a few red-bud trees (I believe that's what they're called) were making an early full-bloom appearance. After the run, I was able to shower quickly and walk across the park to meet friends for lunch. Not very sore, my stretching and strength training program seems to be helping a lot. I am actually looking forward to this damned marathon now!

Hopefully the weather will be cooperative. We've been getting a lot of rain lately, which is a good thing, but I can't imagine it will be fun if it rains on the marathon.

The only problem now is my shorts (nice Nike running shorts - my favorites). I noticed on my 20-miler a few weeks ago that the back seams in the waistband rubbed raw two small areas of my lower back. On the 22 miler, about 6 areas of my lower back and waist were rubbed raw. I didn't notice it happening at all during either run, but in the shower afterwards, those areas were sore to the touch and later scabbed over in garish red. I guess I'll have to go out and find a new pair of shorts for the marathon. It's not a good idea to introduce new running wear for a marathon, but looks like I don't have a choice.

I made sure to eat lots of carbs on Saturday, the day before the long run. The Friday before was another one of those busy workdays where I procrastinated eating without really thinking about it, and then when I finally got around to it, I just scooped down a quick bowl of cereal. I knew I wasn't well fueled, so I put off my long run until Sunday so I would have more time to fuel up. I think that was a good move.