Stonewall Jackson 20 Mile Ambulance Run

Today I completed the longest run of my marathon training cycle. A close-by town does a 20-mile "tune up" race exactly 3 weeks prior to the Marine Corps Marathon, which is exactly when you're supposed to do your 20. Husband and I figured we might as well get a t-shirt since we have to run the 20 anyways! I'd love to give you a play-by-play of the race, but it's really fading into one big blob in my memory. The first 5 miles were spent running at a 10-10:30 pace, easily chatting with the runners around me. The course was hilly, but I run hills all the time so it really was no big deal. We spent 4-5 miles somewhere in the middle running on a rocky trail. It was pretty, but unpleasant as you really had to watch where you stepped. Around mile 16 I started to really, really want to be done. We were running the same hills in reverse, and they suddenly seemed a lot larger. And more steep. In fact we hit a really large uphill at mile 17 (one that I daintily pranced DOWN at mile 3)and I ended up walking the think. The only reason I wasn't crying at that point was because I wasn't carrying water and didn't want to cry any out! At mile 19 I figured I'd better stop walk/running and finish strong. When my trainer first ran this thing 5 years ago, she ran a 3:44:07, and I was determined to beat it. My Garmin hit mile 20, and the finish line was nowhere in sight, VERY frustrating. The race turned out to be closer to 20.2, my finish time was 3:41:22. Here's the finish photo!

Now, I taper for three weeks. Then the BIG SHOW!