Day 124 (4/14): 18 miles / 2:38:33

Another "longest run ever"... and I'm realizing that I'm only going to have a few more of them, so I'm trying to appreciate the personal accomplishment... which is hard to do with so many sore muscles :)

Nevertheless, I'm feeling really good about today's run.  My game plan was to run my usual 6 mile loop 3 times giving me the opportunity to keep track of my pace.  I'm a little concerned about whether or not I'll be prepared for race day as far as pacing myself is concerned, so I'm really working on that on my long run days.  I'd say I was pretty successful in that department today:

First 6 miles: 54:05 = 9:01/mile
Second 6 miles: 51.55 = 8:39/mile
Last 6 miles: 52:33 = 8:46/mile

My main goal was to not start out too fast, so I really made an effort to shoot for a 9:00 mile pace.  After that, I figured I would go with whatever pace felt comfortable to me.  I'm a little surprised that the pace for my second loop ended up being as fast as it was, but I would have to say that I definitely was feeling my best during those 6 miles (which I find particularly surprising given the fact that the rain had started... I had contemplated heading home, but I realized that, come marathon day, there won't be an inside track in the case of inclement weather... I'd have to be prepared for bad weather and figured it was as good a time as any to practice running in the rain).  Towards the end, there was no question I was starting to feel it and I'm just thrilled my pace only slowed by 7 seconds per mile... it was definitely a struggle.

And it was right around the start of my third 6 mile loop that I started to think about how tired I really was and, as usual, considered cutting my long run short.  But this was a little more serious than my usual thought process.  I was really feeling the fatigue in my legs.  Fortunately, a very important thought occurred to me at that particular moment.  I wasn't training for the marathon because it was easy... this whole thing wasn't going to be easy at all.  If it was, a lot more people would do it.  Around mile 14 I had to give myself a major pep talk... and I reminded myself that, if I expected to survive race day, I needed to prepare my body for what it was going to feel like.  I needed to get used to fighting through the pain, ignoring the discomforts and stop considering the possibility of quitting.  It was exactly what I needed to push through my last 4 miles.  It wasn't easy and I'm likely to be hurting for days... but that little pep talk will surely come in handy in 5 weeks when I'm certainly going to be feeling the pain and the temptation to quit... I'll need to remind myself that, while this is likely the hardest thing I will ever put myself through, it will be with a purpose... I will finish this race because it is a dream of mine... a goal worth accomplishing... pain and all, I will cross that finish line... because I can.