A.M. Did the Bridal Veil 20 miler. First 10 uphill in 1:09:29, then tempo back down. Started out at 5:40 pace, but then got a side ache and had to slow down to 6:00. Sarah brought me water to the 14 mile mark. It was not as warm as two weeks ago, but it was still nice to have water. There was some headwind. After 7 miles of tempo I faded to 6:08 on the part of the trail with the turns and the bridges, but that served as a wake up call. I toughened up to deal with the side ache, and was able to speed back up to slightly sub-6:00. Last mile was 5:56. Total time for the tempo was 58:39, 5:52 average. Total time for 20 miles was 2:08:08. Now if only it was the full marathon... Not sure about the cause of the side ache. I have gotten them before in the marathon when low on fuel sometimes (possibly the liver does not like to be empty?), after eating dry food, and sometimes odd breathing patterns kick the diaphragm. On the positive side of things, unlike two weeks ago I felt some zip in the legs for the entire duration of the tempo. And the time was respectable. My best time in this setup is a little under 56:00, but that was trading miles with Ted for the first 7 miles, and a bit of tailwind, so overall better conditions. I would say with the same setup I would have been a minute faster. So in other words, I am out of shape by about 10 seconds a mile right now. Benjamin ran a mile with Joseph. Jenny and Julia ran 2. P.M. 3 with Benjamin.
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