The Big Two-Two

With 22 days till the marathon (yes, I'm counting!!), I ran 22 miles this morning on the Iron Horse Trail. I did two 4 mile pace segments--the first one from 8-12 miles and the second from 15-19 miles. My legs felt heavy on the first pace segment, but I ran those miles around 8:46 pace. Somehow, my legs felt better at mile 15, and I really pushed through miles 17 & 18 (I ran the last pace mile in 8:21). Overall, I felt strong during the run, even after a tough week of juggling school, work, and life! So, the workout was a success, and that means I've graduated onto taper-dom....I will definitely be writing more about the ups and downs of tapering. Hint: an "up" is that you don't have to pack gels for your 2+ hour long medium long runs, but a "down" is that you don't get to eat oodles of peanut butter or loads of pasta....