Milestone
Today I feel I crossed a small milestone in my marathon training - 13.2 miles. My target distance was just 13 miles but my GPS signal wasn’t so hot and I set a target location (home) which got me 13.2. This is the halfway point for an actual marathon and while I think the second 13 miles will certainly be the harder part, I felt really good about the run and mostly very good about my recovery (except I waited waaaay too long to get coffee today). I ran with many of the same terrific people I met last week in ChuckIt - Dan, Elizabeth, and Joe. Last week there were more of us and we took the course much easier. Today I got 2-3 more miles in and my average pace was under 8:30 vs. 10+ minute miles last week. That probably spells “too fast for training” but it’s really, really enjoyable and the company makes me want to run that way. Dan turned 49 last Monday and is going through some significant life events which made him exude infectious optimism and I’m *positive* that helped set our pace. I think a terrific time was had by everyone, though. Tomorrow I made what might be the mistake of volunteering to marshal for the SeaFair Marathon, which turns out to mean “get to Kirkland by 6:15AM” (maybe that’s why they had trouble getting volunteers?), but overall joining ChuckIt must be the best decision I’ve made for personal fitness in years - probably in my life - and I’d encourage anyone in Seattle who has even a passing interest in running to consider joining.