20 Miles – Take 3

3/12/11

20 miles

3:00

9:00 avg pace

The FIRST plan called for 20 miles at 9:16 pace today.  My plan was to slow down and follow the 9:16 pace for 15 miles and, if I did, I could run the last 5 miles at GMP.  I felt good, the weather was beautiful (windy but nice), and I’m glad I held back and was able to speed up during the last few miles.

Splits, shall we?
M1:  9:16
M2:  9:07
M3:  9:24
M4:  9:21 –> Shot Blok #1
M5:  9:10
M6:  9:08
M7:  8:58
M8:  9:02 –> Shot Blok #2
M9:  9:05
M10:  8:52
M11:  9:00
M12:  9:14 –> Shot Blok #3
M13:  9:11
M14:  8:57
M15:  8:54
M16:  8:47 –> Shot Blok #4
M17:  8:42
M18:  8:37
M19:  8:51
M20:  9:14 (suddenly got tired)

I saw a sea of green and beads while running past the train station; lots of 20somethings waiting to the train to Philly for the Erin Express.  The EE is an Irish bar crawl in Philly that takes place on the first 2 Saturdays in March.  I used to frequent the EE for many years and it was a blast, as long as you don’t mind super crowded bars, beer being spilled on you constantly, and long lines for the bathroom (with no toilet paper).  I didn’t mind those things in my 20s but you couldn’t pay me to do it now!  Funny how things change without you even realizing it.  Today I plan on watching St. Joe’s (hopefully) beat Dayton and advance to the finals of the A-10 tournament (all from the comfort of my couch).  Then I’ll take Hawk for a walk and check out our St. Patty’s Day parade (sans solo cup of beer).  Very different from past St. Patty’s Day celebrations.

These pictures were not even taken on St. Patty’s Day, they were taken at Irish Weekend in Wildwood, NJ (every September).  Yeah, I used to celebrate my Irish-ness twice each year – in March and September.  Ah, the good old days 🙂