18 miles = easy

But first, a little catch-up.

Yesterday morning I swam and biked (about half an hour each). Then I engaged in some completely MINDLESS eating - not just eating the wrong things, but not even thinking about it until after the food was in my tummy - so I didn't feel like blogging about that. Had I blogged yesterday, I would have talked about the really solid swim I did with Kathy - she had told me she swam slower than me, which wasn't true at all (her race times seem slower, but we ended up deciding that's because I swim faster than usual in a race and she swims slower). She set the pace and I pushed harder while swimming in practice any time all summer. It felt great! Then my bike was a short 8 miles with one nice climb - just enough work to make me feel normal. (I don't feel normal when I don't exercise.)

So this morning we had 18 miles of running on the calendar, and I got the most adorable running outfit to wear - this skirt and this top. But it was cool and threatened rain (we only got about 20 minutes of light rain, but still) so I also had to wear a long-sleeve running hoodie too (of course it was pink too). Hmm. My run wasn't easy because of my outfit, though my outfit did make me happy.

I was nervous about running in that skirt, because it doesn't have shorts underneath - just a built-in brief - and I worried that my inner thighs might touch and cause chafing. Well, it didn't happen, but I think it would have had it been warmer out and I were sweating more. I also noticed that my legs don't touch at all when I take long strides, like when I'm running fast, but when I do shorter strides they do touch a little. But it was okay. Guys, sorry for the visuals. :-)

So...the run. Like my title says, it was just so easy. We ran so comfortably, we chatted the whole time (the coolest thing was how big our group was: we started out with Nancy, Latosha, Danielle, and Wendy, plus Gabriel and Anessa on their bicycles). Nancy and Latosha only did 8 miles of the run since they're not training for a full marathon, but it still rocked to have these cool women to get up and meet early Saturday morning. It definitely puts me in a good mood for the day.

At the end of the 18, I felt 100% confident that I could have done another 8.2 to do a marathon today. I LOVE THAT FEELING. To know that my fitness level (at least for endurance) is so high that I could run a marathon any day - Yay! How awesome is that!

So this isn't my year to run a marathon fast. I wish I'd never set a speed goal for last year's marathon (Seattle, and my goal was sub-four hours. I was on pace for it until the halfway mark, where I got a killer stomachache and slowed down considerably. I did 4:17). This year, there's no speed goal for three reasons:

1) I am doing the Black Diamond half-Ironman in two weeks, so I don't have room in my schedule for a lot of speedwork
2) I am doing the Dean Karnazes Endurance 50 run when he's in Washington
3) I worry that New York is such a zoo that outside factors will prevent me from meeting my time goal

So, this year I'm just going to run the marathons for fun. But next year - I'm feeling so comfortable with the distance that I just know it's time to step up the speed and see how fast I can go. The more comfortable I get with endurance, the more I feel like something like qualifying for Boston is in reach, if I just decide that's what I want to do. Three hours, 40 minutes (at least for the next three years for me). Maybe!