20 Miles is FAR

Every weekend, I have big plans to do my long run on Saturday morning.  And every weekend, without fail, I procrastinate until I'm doing my long run as late as possible on Sunday.  This weekend was no exception.  I fully intended to go for my long run of 20 miles on Saturday morning.  But then I looked at the weather report and Sunday's weather looked so much better and plus I reaaaaally didn't want to do 20 miles on Saturday so...sure enough, at 3:30pm on Sunday afternoon I was finally dragging myself out the door.  And the weather was really nice on Sunday.  It was perfect running weather.  And my run was actually really good.  I have found that I really need the walking breaks that I let myself take while I refuel during my run, but I have stopped feeling guilty for taking them.  I'm not running the marathon because I want an amazing finish time.  I just want to finish, and will probably walk a little bit during the race itself if that's what it takes to get me to the finish.

Anyway, 20 miles is really really far.  Further than I thought, incidentally, because when I mapped out my path online after I got back I found out that I only ran 19 miles.  Oh well, it was still a productive run, and was the longest I've ever gone in my life.  I didn't really have an appetite afterward, but headed to Brooklyn for dinner with Jonathan anyway. One whiff of the delicious dumplings at Yun Nan Flavor Snack and my appetite was back with a vengeance.  Yun Nan Flavor Snack is consistently rated to have the best dumplings in all of New York City and just so happens to be right near my brother's apartment, lucky for us.  We ate dumplings and noodles while watching the highlights of the Eagles game (I'm now fully on board with Michael Vick after this week!).  All in all a nice little Sunday. 

This week is an easy week, ending with a half-marathon in the Hamptons on Saturday.  I have decided not to race the half-marathon full speed, because I don't want to injure myself and have been having a bit of IT band pain.  It should be a fun race either way and a nice change from my usual running trails on the Hudson River Park and Central Park:

Monday: 5 miles
Tuesday: 5 miles
Wednesday: 5 miles
Thursday: rest
Friday: rest
Saturday: half-marathon (13.1)
Sunday: rest