24 Miles
Saturday morning, I pulled in the parking near the Harris Teeter, leaped out, and headed to the back of my car to change in to my running shoes.
Actually, as I was changing, Mike Beigay startled me when he walked up to my car. I was not expecting him for another 1 hour.
We had agreed to meet and run a few loops of Lung Strong race course and event which is being contested next weekend.
Even from the start, I could see that Mike was feeling pretty good. While I was doing my usual routine and dragging myself up every hill.
Jeff Classy joined us on our 2nd loop.
With about 7 miles left, Mike couldn't contain his energy any longer. I had told him from the start that he didn't have to wait on me. My goal was only time on my feet running and finishing all 24 miles.
Mike soon took off and after about 5 minutes he was out of sight. Jeff would hang out with me until about 5k to go and then he wanted to run a little harder to the finish.
I continued my nice steady 8 minute miles and finished in a little of 3:12. Could I have run harder and stayed with them – most likely – but with 90+ miles for this week and a game plan in mind, I stayed with my strategy.
To paraphrase the NASCAR drivers, at this point in my marathon training I am "Big Picture Running"
Tales from the Road
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