NBHCMTS 20 Miler

Quite the acronym, no?

Anyhow, this 20 miler was the last tune-up before tapering down to the Columbus marathon in a few weeks. It's mostly an out-and-back race, with a few hilly miles more on the out.

I was fortunate enough to strike up a conversation with a couple other guys around mile 5, and we ran together until around mile 13, when I turned up the speed a little bit. My goal was to be somewhere between a 9:30 and 10:00 pace, so as not to burn myself out too much before the real goal in three weeks.

After New Hampshire, the hill toward the end of the race didn't seem nearly so steep this year, and I cruised across the finish line at 3:15:39, a 9:46 pace. I was pretty happy that I was able to pace myself well on a long race, and never walked. Last year, I had run a 3:11, which surprised me when I looked back today. For only a four minute difference, I ran much more in control and comfortably this year, and I wasn't even trying to run my fastest. Makes me think the training is going pretty well...or at least I will convince myself that's what it means. :)

Now it's time to taper down the miles and get ready for the big finish to fall training!