Last 20 miler and taper.

Finally, a beyond perfect day for running long!  Saturday morning my friend Lisa and I started out at the top of Buckskin Road in Pocatello and ran a mostly downhill route that took us back towards my house in Inkom.  The sun was shining and the the temperatures were cool, but perfect ~ 40's when we started.  There were a gazillion runners out there working their way down Buckskin, and who could blame them?  By the time we reached my house, we had gone a little over 15 miles.  Lisa needed to be finished, so I drove her back to her car then came back home and set out on my own to do another 5 miles.

When all was said and done, I did a tad over 20 miles with an average pace of 10:18 min/mile.  I got a little sunburned and a nice, big blister on one of my toes, but I felt it was a great run to peak my marathon training.    In the past, I have done runs up to and over the full marathon distance during training, but considering the issues I've had with my back, I am feeling good having done 2 good 20 milers and several 4-hour cardio sessions that mixed running with spinning, etc.  With the marathon 3 weeks away, I will start my taper.  This weekend my long run will be 12-13 miles, then the next week I'll bring it down to 8 or 9, then the Saturday after that it will be race day!