Last Saturday, I headed out with 90 other KAR runners to tackle our longest run before the big race. We ran the Kal Haven trail 18 miles into Bloomingdale, MI and did an extra 2 miles out and back to complete 22 miles for the day. I was a bit worried about the run because the week I had a blowout with my running shoes. I ordered some Brooks Launch and only had 10 miles on them before the 22-miler. Plus, the weather wasn’t looking very favorable.
With the weather, new shoes and long distance weighing heavily on my mind, I prevailed and finished feel rather great. The sun came out for about 10 minutes during the run and I experienced only 5 minutes of pouring rain (in the last 3 miles). I only had a few brief minutes of negativity playing out in my head around mile 15 or 16, after that it was smooth sailing. My running buddy, Angela and I pretty much talked nonstop the whole journey.
Afterwards, I felt pretty good despite my legs being sore. My feet were sore, probably from breaking in the shoes and of course the 22 mile distance. My run time was 3:42something but that doesn’t include the breaks every 2-3 miles. I used coolrunning.com’s fancy pace calculator and figured out I’ll finish the marathon in 4:30/4:35 if everything goes well. Just typing that sentence gave me the chills. The marathon is so close!
I want to thank Angela, Annie, Sheila, Bruce, The newfie owner, Angela’s mom Carol, and all the nice folks who put out the water stops, you all made the 22 mile run enjoyable and attainable.
Now time to TAPER!
