Day of long run

Wow. Tired. That was not an easy long run. I figured out that in just under 48 hours, I've run about 48km, or longer than that marathon is going to be. And today it felt like I was running the second half of the marathon, not merely out for a 25.7km jaunt. Actually, that was about 3km longer than I meant to run, or thought I'd run. Sheesh. I felt it in my bones.

I covered the distance in 2 hours and 20 minutes, but I'm too wiped to figure out what that means per km. Wait, I think it's about 5:30/km, come to think of it, because that's on par with my Toad run.

I've been wondering whether I should rejig my time plan for the marathon. I think 4:10 is a more realistic number to aim for, and won't leave me disappointed at the finish line. I may not have I've trained sufficiently to expect a better time than that, simply because I haven't done enough really long runs over the past several months. That's due to not realizing I was training for a marathon until about a month ago, and there's only so much time you can make up in marathon training. Luckily, I had been training for the Toad, so it's not like I was starting from scratch. But still. I know I haven't put the miles on like the serious runners have. Besides, for a first outing, I think it's always best not to run for time, but for completion and for the experience. That's made all of my other races this season very happy indeed. And as long as I complete the race, I'll get to check the experience off my life list. I always hoped I'd run a marathon. And now I'll understand what that means.

Not sure it's wise to run tomorrow at my favourite trails, as planned. I'm going to play this by ear. I don't want to overdo it. It's time to start tapering down a wee bit this week, and even more next week. I'm going to follow the Running Room's marathon guide for the 4hr completion.