20 MILES IS A LONG WAY

This weeks long run took me a long way, 20 miles to be exact. This is the farthest I have ever gone. My intention was to run 18 miles. My training plan did call for 20 but I had made some adjustments a few weeks ago to fit in a race. So Sunday was going to be 18 miles. Jayne was going to ride her road bike and provide any extra support I might need. She's the best by the way. I bet she rode her bike 40-50 miles while I ran. I got to use my newest gaget the GEL-BOT, check it out www.gel-bot.com . The thing works great. Jayne also had a couple of bottles of gatorade for me on her bike, as well as an extra gu. Now you must also know that I'm working real hard at running these long runs slow 9:30-10 min/mi. So when I got to 9 miles I felt great, despite the very hilly coarse that I choose. So I thought what the hell I feel great, the program actually calls for 20 at this point, so I went for it. By the time I got to 15 miles I was even picking up the pace just a little. At mile 17 Jayne ditched her bike and joined me for the last 3 miles. The last 2 miles I tried to pick up the pace alot. Mile 19 was a 9 min. mile and mile 20 was at 8 min. At about 19.5 it took all of my concentration to keep the wheels from falling off. I could tell that if I did not focus all of my attention on each step it could all go to crap in a hurry. But there it was I could see the last mile marker. I got a big grin on my face, yelled f*&k yea. and finished felling great. Total distance for the week 36.5 miles. And monday morning when I woke up I felt ok. I could definitly tell I had done something but really felt pretty good. The beauty to me at this point is I can actually see me running the marathon now. Before Sunday I had serious doubts. Now I know I can do it. Now, can I do it at pace?