Longest Run Ever...For Now

Well, on this humid, but cloudy day, I ran the longest run of my life so far...21 miles! This marks the first workout in my 14 week build up to the Baltimore Marathon on 10/16. Although I was hesitant about running so far already, once I got into the groove of running (with the help of my friend, Aimee for the middle 11 miles), I felt completely free. I wanted to finish the run in under 2:30, which I did with relative ease and even felt good enough to run my last few miles at 6:30 pace without even knowing it! Although...it was particularly humid today. I think I lost about 10 lbs. in sweat! The only thing that worries me is that I seem to be developing hot spots on the balls of my feet under my callouses way too much lately. If anyone has any recommendations, I'd love to hear them!

Next up, I will be doing a pretty long tempo workout with Becki on Friday. It's so nice to be getting back to the distance based workouts. I really felt like I was losing my focus and motivation with all the 5k-10k stuff. It was fun for a while to shake things up, but now I just want to get back to what I love. I sure hope to see my strength develop over these next few weeks, so I will be ready to make the ones I love proud of me at Baltimore! Here is a picture of my workout group in Lewisburg, PA. Although the picture includes present and former members, I appreciate each and every one of them and if I had my way, I'd have them all there on 10/16, because I am at my best when surrounded by the people who take care of me and who I care about in return. Here's to hoping that the ones I love most will be at the finish line...