The marathon is just over a month away, and my run on Saturday was 20 miles long. In some ways, a 20 miler on a random weekend takes more motivation than 26.2 on marathon morning. No cheering crowds, no helpful volunteers handing out water and fuel, no two week taper to build up your strength. That said, those last six miles of the marathon are like no other miles.
The run went reasonably well. I ended up running at a pace that was only a second slower than my last marathon PR. This is too fast for a long training run. This has been my mistake in the past, running too hard in the weeks leading up to the race, and showing up at the start line tired. Training has been less rigid and more by feel this time around, but I need to pay better attention and take it easy when I run another 20 two weeks from now.
Sunday started in a much more relaxing way. Kristy and I took the pooches out for a walk around Mission Bay Park, coffee in hand chasing away the cobwebs from the night before. The beaches would eventually fill with Labor Day families, but early in the morning the park was a more subdued mix of dog-wallkers and runners.
Where Sunday was relatively lazy, Monday was busy. Well, busy relaxing. Two parties, lots of friends, but with the uninvited guest of rain. The first day of rain in months, and it lands on a holiday where everyone is trying to soak up the last day of summer vacation. Shouldn't have washed the car Monday morning.
Though there were no tans to be had, we still had a great time. Bike rides, bocce ball on the beach, great food, kitchen conversations, beautiful sunsets, wonderful friends.
It was raining again this morning, and then the swampy heat rolled in. Temperatures cracked 100 degrees and the humidity made it feel even more oppressive. The pooch had a cold bath, pillow cases are in the freezer, but there may not be much sleep tonight.
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