I took Coach Paul’s advice this morning – I ran slow.  I drank water.  I didn’t push too hard, but I still put forth a solid effort.

In the end, after two hours of running, I felt like I could keep going.  That is exactly what I was hoping for.

There was plenty of opportunity to go faster.  Keith was running @ least 30 seconds ahead of me all morning.  However, I wasn’t even tempted to catch him.  I wanted to run @ a pace that was comfortable.  I knew where we were going, and I knew that the last time we were on this route I totally bonked on the last two hills.

One of the benefits of the Service Rd is the mile markers.  I’m not sure how accurate they are, but I was hitting the marks in the 8:45 – 8:55 range. I know that it was this consistency that carried me through the last 25 minutes of the run.    I could have easily picked up the pace during the second half, but was happy doing what I was doing.  I thought about the struggles that I’ve had recently; the struggle that I had on the Service Rd last time.  I also reminded myself of Coach Paul’s advice – go slow .. be consistent.  It was this advice that carried me through today, and I think it will carry me through on October 29.