Well, I made it 22 miles yesterday. I did struggle somewhat the last 2-3 miles as I was by myself at this point. I bypassed all our usual drink spots. We have jugs of water and gatorade set every 3 or 4 miles and for good reason but all too often they are like the watercooler at the office, instead of stopping for 10 seconds we normally stop for several minutes. I habit I have to break for my marathon training, I can only speak for myself but it seems completely different when w are racing and drinking on the run vs. run 4 miles stop, drink, catch your breathe for 3 minutes and repeat as necessary until you hit the desired mileage. So I skipped the aid stations on the back 11.

It became apparent that I am not quite where I need to be yet the last few miles but was somewhat encuoraging seeing as the race is still 2 months away. We are on a tough training schedule that has us doing three 22 mile runs and two 20 milers. Now doing 22 just seems like a regular Saturday long run, a bit tougher but not too daunting.

I need the group support and just the expectation of me being there helps a great deal too. Our training group is probably 100 strong so you get 60-80 people most weeks and they are all speed ranges so you soon separate on a run like this. I was with about 8 people that dwindle to 3 by the halfway point as people speed up or slow down. The legs got very heavy the last 2 miles and I looked for the parking lot around every corner as the last 2 miles as it was a new course for me.

Dog update: Having 3 dogs is as bad as it sounds! Roo, the new dog is having sleeping issues causing Robyn and me to lose a lot of sleep as well. Walking them can be a challenge, when they are going nice you could put a board across their backs, they are all that close in height!

Quote of the Day: "Let us run with patience that race that is set before us." - Saint Paul