20- LR success! At long last! Andd, a milage PR for the week!

Oh man, today was awesome!  FINALLY I had a great 20 miler! :) :) :)

The conditions were much better, as I mentioned yesterday.  It was cold and windy, and unfortunately, I went with the wind during the first half (so you know what that means for the second half!) but it was sunny at I didn't have to run at the butt crack of dawn.  Honestly, it was a total 180 from last week.  From the first 1/2 mile I felt 'on.'  The miles were just clicking by, and I was feeling fresh despite my milage for this week.  My mom met me at a park at the 10.5 mile mark and we ran 3 miles around the park together.  Then, I ran home.  On my way, I met up with a friend of mine who was running we ran a mile or so together (he was home for mother's day.)  It was fun, but it was super windy at this point, so we could barely talk!  I also tried some 'gu chomps' because I need to practice actually taking in some sort of energy during races.  I liked them, and they didn't bother my stomach, but they were a pain in that I had to chew them which threw off my breathing.

So now for the pace details.  As I've said before, I'm TERRIBLE at even splits.  I always go out too hard and die.  So, I've been trying to practice this more.  Today, I wanted to do the first 10.5 before I met my mom and whatever pace (under 8:15) then run 'slow' with her, then try to get the last 6 or so under 8 min pace.  Here's the breakdown:

First 10.5 = 7:40 min/mile average - this was PERFECT as this is the exact pace I would like to go out at.  I'm happy that my body settles here pretty naturally. 

~ 3 miles with ma = 9:22 pace - the park is rolling hills, and we were just chatting.  I wasn't worrying about pace.  As I mentioned before - running with my mom trumps everything.

Last 6+ = 7:48 pace - against the wind was hard(er) but I felt fresh(ish).  So happy to prove to myself that I could finish at a decent pace.

Overall = 20 miles @ 7:59 pace
Taking out mid-miles = 17 miles @ 7:43 pace

I am pleased with this.  Finally.  It really felt like the cumulative fatigue finally disappated some, and I felt strong, like I was reeping the benefits of my high (for me) milage training of the last few weeks.  Lately, I haven't been able to picture myself running a strong/fast marathon and have been having doubts about even coming close to a PR.  Today gave me confidence that I atleast have a shot, given the right conditions.  And, it was my first ever 90 mile week.  All good there.

The rest of the day was awesome, other than the fact that I did zero prep work and am starting the week behind again! My mom and I went to church, got some groceries, did a spontaneous shoe shopping trip at DSW which consisted of my mom picking out and buying me 4 pairs of shoes/flip flops for the summer (she was appauled at my shoe collection which consisted of gross broken down flip flops and runnings shoes!), hitting up the mall and frappachino happy hour at Starbucks (my mothers day treat- 2 for one Mocha Lite Fraps hells yeah), making hommade pasta sauce which watching the "Blind  Side", and chillaxin.  So it was a great day, running and otherwise.

Although I didn't do enough work this weekend, I feel waaaay better mentally about starting the week this week than last week because I had days off from work.  And I had a run that was a complete opposite from last weeks FAIL.  How I run seriously impacts my mood/day.  Just sayin'.

Ok, enough rambling!  I'm off to bed!