Nineteen!

Pre 19km run in my Asics gear:)

Running has been going really well the last couple of weeks. I have had some big successes in terms of getting in the distances I need to in order to feel more confident about doing 21 km on race day.   I have been able to get out with the Forerunners group the last two weekends, which has been really good for my training. I've had the pleasure to run with some super nice, supportive people.

I have to say I was very nervous going out with them for the first time as they were doing 17 km that day and the longest I had done was a 15 km run/walk.  We pretty much ran the whole distance aside from a water stop around the 10km mark.  While I was exhausted after and had a bit of an upset stomach (this seems to be a problem for me on long runs), my body actually felt pretty good.

Some of the Forerunners gang at the 10 km water station

After celebrating that success I spent the next 7 days worrying about the 19 km run that I did yesterday.  I found it hard to enjoy the first week of my vacation knowing I had that run on the horizon.  The run yesterday morning was hot and felt really long but I'm so happy I did it!  I have discovered that one of the breaking points for me on these longs runs is around 10 to 12 km.  I start really wanting to stop.  However, because I had people to run with,  and try to keep pace with,  I managed to push through without any breaks other than our one water station stop.  It was tough getting up the three flights of stairs to my apartment after but today I feel great.  Just three weeks to the big day!