This blog entry is brought to you by the number 20.

Yup, people, I ran TWENTY, as in 2-0, miles on Saturday. I was only supposed to run 18 miles and then run 20 miles in two weeks, but on Friday I realized that I'm off one week on my training schedule and since the marathon is now only four weeks away, I wasn't going to be able to put in another super long run. So, I ran my last long mileage run before the marathon. Now it's time to taper my mileage in preparation for the big 26.2 on June 3.

When I ran 20 miles on Saturday, I woke up before the crack of dawn and left my house at 5:38am. I ran 4 miles to Diana's house and then she and I ran 8 miles together. I stopped at her house and drank a bottle of water and ate a PowerGel. Then I ran 8 miles in a very round about way through Laguna Niguel, Laguna Hills, and Aliso Viejo to get home. The last four miles were tough--my legs were sore and my pace was slower, but I was done running by 9:18am and I realized that 1) I can run a marathon and 2) I will finish the marathon under my goal time of 4:59:59 (I basically just want to finish in the fourth hour). I anticipate my final time will be between 4:30 and 4:45. When I finished the 20 mile run, my legs were sore, but they felt fine by the end of the day. So, I also know that not only can I run a marathon, but it won't kill me and incapacitate me for days afterward (which is good, because I have to work the day after it).

This week I'm running a 10 miler on Wednesday and a 5 miler on Thursday. Diana might run with me again. Sadly (for me, at least), Megan made the move up to the Bay Area last weekend and so I know longer have her to run with. Diana, though, is awesome to run with and the time (and miles) fly by when I run with her.