Seven miles down!

The marathon training is moving along great. Jen and I skipped the three mile run last weekend and opted to walk instead. So instead of doing just a 30 minute run last Tuesday night, I ran three miles because I felt guilty for skipping (even though Jen and I were both still full from dinner the night before). I also ran at my fastest pace ever...11:18 was my average! Thursday I ran at the gym and mixed in some sprints. Sunday morning--at the ass crack of dawn--Jen and I headed out for our seven miles. We did the same route we ran for six miles but added in a one mile loop around a nearby lake. Miles 2.5 to 4 were the hardest for me. We had our water and Gu stop at mile 4, so that kept me going from mile 3 until we got there. What a difference the water and Gu made, I felt like a new woman. We had another water stop at mile 5 and we ended up carrying those bottles with us for the rest of the time. Even though it was early it was still getting hot. As usual the last 0.10 miles was the worst. I swear I check my total distance every 30 seconds at that point because I'm so ready to be done. In reviewing my times per mile my fastest was mile 4 at a pace of 11:10! Pretty good, I think. I also walked less this run than any other run I've done. All in all I felt pretty awesome after we were done. I was really excited the night before the run and then got nervous the morning of the run, but once we were going I felt fine. I'm pretty amazed that I can run seven miles. Go, me!