A GLORIOUS EIGHTEEN

Coming back along Willamette, I believe this is around mile 11 or 12. At back in yellow.

Okay, maybe that title was a little dramatic but my Saturday morning long run with PMC went pretty well. Considering I did the beer mile the night before I was feely pretty good Saturday morning, no ill effects. It was also my fifth day in a row running, if you count the beer mile, and my legs were feeling surprisingly good. We met at Mountain Hard Wear, the same place where I ran my first run with PMC this year, sixteen miles, and did that same route expect we added an extra two miles to the end.

Alejandro is now running with the 3:15 group, so I'm left back in the 3:30 group to make friends. It's actually been a good thing, as I've talked to more people and now that I've been there a few times the faces are becoming familiar. Pretty much a whole new group this year, not a lot of the same people from last year. There are also times were I can just hang at the back and zone out, which is kind of nice. Lots of chatter the first half of this run that died down towards the end.

Nothing special to note with the route. I actually kind of like it except the first mile or two. Too many stoplights and street crossings. Once we get rolling though it's a pretty nice route. I don't mind Willamette Boulevard too much during the summer, I get sick of it during the winter for some reason (I think because it seems like every other Coach Jim run is there), but lately I've been digging it. On a warm day it has pretty views but also some shade. The weather for this run was perfect. After the sauna-like run from last week it was in the 60s and overcast for the majority of this rum.

My legs felt really good! I remarked around mile 17 how I could easily go twenty miles. A few of my fellow runners agreed. A few probably hated me in their heads. Seriously though, I felt good! My legs were tiring a little and were a tad sore, yes, but everything considered they felt great. If that was a twenty mile run I could have easily done it. That gives me a lot of confidence that I can be ready for this marathon. Not necessarily PR it, but be in decent enough marathon shape where it doesn't turn into a total shit show.

The biggest takeaway from this run was the next day my legs felt fine! The tight calves were nowhere to be seen. That was very refreshing. My legs even felt a little better than they should. Not really sore at all and feeling pretty strong. Which was a good thing, as I had the Sunday Evening 5k with Brandon and his dad that evening. More on that next!