A journey and a destination

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 I put a bit of almond butter on a bagel and toped it with a banana this morning around 4:30am in preparation for my long run. I'm only 5 weeks out from marathon day, and I am working on trying to get my gut trained for the race. I brought along my Hammer Gel flask and a few electrolyte tablets to help with off setting the sweat loss. 

I wasn't in a hurry to get out the door, but I know the more I lollygag around the hard it is to get started. I needed to find that balance between preparation the bit of food and starting. I ended up out the door 30 minutes later which is acceptable. 

I've been splitting my marathon practice runs and long runs into chunks. That means this morning I broke the 16 miles into 4 segments of 4. Each segment pace is the same, but for some reason I feel as though I do less micro correction with my pacing if I think about the longer distances rather than mile to mile. Running for a longer segment I tend to settle in better. The 4 miles segments also in this case provided nice intervals for fueling. I tried to get the equivalent of a gel in my system every 4 miles and took an electrolyte tab at miles 4 and 12. 

Because the distance allowed, I naturally went over the city bridges. Rather than exact match of the run a few weeks ago, I decided to take a run-down Wick's Park path which turns out is extremely well lit. I'm bad at mental measurements, but it seemed like a lamp post every 10 meters or so. I also took a jaunt through the headwaters park, but this time pounded up the hill for a view of the city. What a view. Seeing the city lights in the distance felt special. I would have liked to time the moment to coincide with the sunrise, but that wouldn't happen for another hour or so. 

The 16 miles ended up looking much more intimidating on the plan then they ended up being. Although I knew I'd be able to do it, finishing the milage and still feeling good gave me a boost of encouragement. 


















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