36 down, 16 to go!

I'll start at the end. My "marathon" today went just fine. I feel good and don't feel like I ever really struggled out there today. But it did not go as planned.

The plan: Get up around 2:30. Meet my training partner Laura at 3:15 for 10 miles or so before the 6:00 a.m. Team-in-Training Run. Join the team for 16 miles and call it a day.

The variable: Rain.

The outcome; Thunder and lightening canceled Laura and I's 3:30 run, so 6 a.m. would be the new start time. Frustrating thing was, I had been up for 30 minutes before we decided to cancel. Back to bed I went (couldn't really sleep, but got a few winks in in the next hour or so). Up again at 5:15 for the 6 a.m. TNT run. But its pouring down rain. I head to the start line, and at about 6:15 we decided to give it a go. So while I should have had 12 or so miles in by now, I was just starting the day.

The run started slow because of the rain. No one was really mentally in to it, and it was a little chilly staring out. But we all stuck it out. I was really proud of my team members. 16 miles in 55 degree rain. Not a bad day for them.

Once we dropped off the team, Laura and I kept it up for another 10 miles. Never really dried out, although it did cut down to a drizzle by the time we finished.

Very slow day. 5:35 total, which includes our incredibly long water stops (large team + one cooler = long delays). But I was thrilled to see that my average heart rate on the day was 112. Not bad. Even at mile 26, my average heart rate for the mile was 119 at a 10:30 mile. Pretty thrilled with that.

36 down, 16 to go!