21 down, 31 to go!

Having canceled yesterday's marathon, I knew I had to run one today or risk losing the streak. I had only planned on 13 miles, as the longest TNT participant would only be going that far. I kinda wanted a break to just hang out and go for a bike ride. But plans change.

Last night I made plans to wake up at 4:30 and begin running at 5:00. I could then be half-way done at 7:00 a.m., and then finish the last 13 miles with the team.

But again, storms. What am I going to do? Sleep in. Well, at least until the 7:00 a.m. run. By that time, the storms had passed, and we had at least a 2:30 window to get the 13 in.

So we did. 13 miles and we were back to the cars. But just about the time everyone was set to leave me, another storm started to blow in. Instead of risking it, I headed straight for the gym to finish my run.

I hopped on the treadmill some 7 minutes after finishing my previous 13 miles, and begin to run. My strategy for these 13.2 miles to finish up can only be explained by stating that next weekend I will be running the Steamboat marathon in Colorado, which has a net elevation LOSS of about 1500 feet. To prepare myself, I set the treadmill at -2% and picked up the pace. This is the best I can do to mimic the hills.

I finished these last few miles on great time. Total time for the marathon was right at 4:30. That isn't bad, considering the first 13 was in 2:50 (lots of water stops and bathroom breaks).

I will chalk this "marathon" up to one of my easiest ever. Yes, the pace the first half was slow, and yes I ran downhill for the second half, but I really felt good. Just never got tired. Thats a good feeling.

21 down, 31 to go.