26.2 Miles

I came very close to completing my first marathon this past weekend, by accident.  I was scheduled to run 20 miles (my furthest distance yet!), but at mile 9 the running app on my phone started acting up.  It jumped from 9 to 14 miles and said I was running at a 6 minute per mile pace, when I was running closer to 9:30.  At that point, I turned it off.  The problem was, I didn't map out my run prior to starting.  Based on the mileage indicator on my app, I had planned to either take a shortcut as I approached mile 20, or do an extended cool down walk at the end.  I ended up estimating my distance which turned out to be 23.5 miles when I clocked it afterwards with my car's odometer. 

For the most part, I felt good throughout.  Around mile 18 my feet were tired, but my legs felt fine.  I "ate" 3 GU energy gel packs along the way (1 every 60 minutes, approximately).  Prior to running I dropped 3 water bottles, two of which I would visit twice on the running route. So I stopped and hydrated at miles 6, 9, 11, 15 and 19.

The route had several tough hills.  At the 4.5 mile point there is a steep 1/2 mile incline on Bousa Rd.  At mile 8, Horse Barn Hill is another brutal 1/2 mile ascent.  Then, at about mile 16 the hills on Hunting Lodge Rd. present a bit of a challenge to tired legs.

I'm training for the Hartford Marathon on Oct. 11th. At this point, I'm feeling strong, and know I can do it, provided I stay injury free.  I have been following a training plan on the RunKeeper app, and now plan to reset the schedule to correspond with the race.  My mileage will decrease and I'll focus more on building speed.  I may be dreaming, but I'd like to try to complete it in under 4 hours.  This tortoise has a ways to go.