20.5 Miles in 2:25:23 (7:06 pace) on a cool, overcast morning of 35 degrees in Little Rock. Garmin 4-Mile pace splits included the following: Miles 1-4: 7:00/mile Miles 5-8: 6:56/mile Miles 9-12: 7:07/mile Miles 13-16: 7:05/mile Miles 17-20: 7:15/mile Final 0.5 Miles: 3:51 I felt descent today despite stomach problems/indigestion (probably need to eat breakfast earlier; ate around 5:00am and started run at 6:15am) during the first half of the run. In fact, stomach issues forced me to cut out one of the two gels that I had intended to take during the run, and I forced down the other with a few swigs of water at Mile 8 and Mile 12. During the final 4-Mile loop through my neighborhood, I incorporated two brutal hills into the run to see how my knee would react (well) and to really force the concept of learning to run hard and tough while tired (successful). Because I miscalculated how far I was from my house, I went ahead and ran another half mile, but I was spent following the hills as reflected by an unacceptable drop in pace during the last half mile (7:42). That said, having run it twice previously, I can state factually that Mile 26 of the Little Rock Marathon does not end with a steep incline (though Mile 25 does actually have a pretty touch one). Icing my knee and enjoying a snowy playoff game between Chicago and Seattle. Incidentally, I love (watching) games played in the snow, especially in HD! Wesley
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