Monday, March 21, 2011

last long run ...

Yesterday morning, I ran my last long run of this training cycle. G, IronJ, KC, 3L, SpeeDee, A, R and I met up at West Creek for two six mile loops. When I arrived, I heard G talking about how she felt that it was a cheetah kind of day. And I knew, before I even saw her, that our ESP was in full force. We had somehow managed to show up in essentially the same outfit.

I look seriously ginormous next to G. I'm like a foot taller than her. It's insane.

Enough digression. Back to the run. We set out with an easy pace.

G is still recovering from an ankle injury and her pace is supposed to be "controlled." Yeah, about that. The four miles that she joined us for clocked in at 9:47, 9:11, 9:03, and 9:14 - not exactly controlled. But, I swear, I tried to slow us down.

At mile six, we picked up G (now on her bike), 3L and KC (who came directly from an overnight shift). Again, we said we were going to "take it easy." But, it seems that whenever you get us together and talking, we switch into autopilot and the miles tick away. Our last six miles were 9:11, 8:59, 8:56, 8:57, 8:48, and 8:48. It was effortless and the perfect way to end an awesome training cycle.

Now, just 9 miles and 5 days stand between me and the start line of the National Marathon. I don't think I could be any more excited ...

27 comments:

gba_gf said...

Still laughing about the psychic cheetah/black sock moment... makes me long for the days at Twickory when we matched more often than we didn't... oh... yea, that was like 3 weeks ago. Time seems to move slower when you're wearing a "BOOT".

I am so excited to be at mile 22/23 of National, I can't. even. tell. you.

Rene' said...

i love running/friend bestie ESP! and National get ready 'cause here you come!!! Good luck on your tapering:)

kat said...

Awesome run, you both looked very cute in your matching outfits.

Running Ricig said...

gotta love getting in great miles without even noticing. I need more friends that run!

amy said...

Race week is always the hardest for me. It's hard to "only" do something like 9 miles. As our coach likes to remind us though, the hay is in the barn!

Jen said...

Ya'll are too cute. And I Do NOT have a cheetah skirt.... working on my National outfit, though.

Unknown said...

You guys look great! I will be at the 1/2 on Saturday. good luck with 26.2!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Love your skirt!! Wow you are tall! Good luck runner girl!

Katie said...

i am so pumped for you and this race!!

Marlene said...

Awesome final long run to wrap thinks up. I am SOOOO excited for you!

fancy nancy said...

Sounds like a great run!!!! You are going to ROCK National!!!!! So excited for you!

Anne said...

So excited for your marathon! I just know you are going to rock that PR!!! It's been a long time coming...and you so deserve to do well! Have a blast T!

Jill said...

You guys are fun. I'm going to start running now to meet you guys and hope to be there in a couple of weeks. I will pick up a cheetah skirt on my way so we can all match!

Great run! So nice to have a group of gals to run with! Love the outfits.

Emily said...

im so excited for you!!! yayyy marathon week!

Unknown said...

I'm really looking forward to your race report. National has a half, right? I would love to run it in the next couple of years.

Runners Fuel said...

Looks like a great long last run!

Shellyrm ~ just a country runner said...

What a GREAT way to end your training cycle! You are going to have the run of a life time. I don't think your training could be more spot on.
Enjoy the final prep days, distract yourself with loads of family fun and tear it up on race day!

SupermomE13 said...

You guys look awesome and it is such a great confidence booster to have a great last long run. Good job!! Enjoy the week and take it as easy as a mom can. :)

Anonymous said...

You are going to rock the race - and you look so cute in that cheetah skirt!!

Samantha said...

Oh, man you all are some hot cheetas! I need to get myself a snazzy skirt. So excited for National...I'll be doing the half. Good luck with your marathon!

Kittee said...

Love the Cheetah movement...

Good Luck in your Marathon. I am sure you will rock it!

Stefanie D. said...

Nice job on your times. I am totally jealous of your running pack. They are pretty much the awesome-est bunch ever.

Julie D. said...

nice long run! so excited for you...you are going to PR by more than 30, I'm sure!! Get after it!

Carly said...

Love how you travel with your posse. And I am excited to see how awesome you do this weekend.

Anne said...

BTW Tonia, please switch to follow my new blog and delete the old one, there were serious problems with it. Here's the new link :)

http://www.anne-asthmaandthegiftofrunning.blogspot.com/

Mel -Tall Mom on the Run said...

Love it!! You me and G could be a T-Mobile sign..

you will ROCK!!

Unknown said...

You girls look so cute - I'm so jealous of you having great running partners (I mean, my hubby is great, but I'd love some gals to run with).

Hope you have a blast this weekend! Rock it girl!