It all pays off

I just kept thinking "this is the second-to-last long one" as I prepared and got out the door. With the mile markers on my hand, I was determined to shave off a few minutes from last week. I was pleasantly surprised to find the bridge open and carried down my preplanned route. I got hungry about mile 8, which has been an issue during long runs but I didn't want to drink too much as last week the last mile was greeted by stomach pains. I had my gel at mile 10 and was feeling a little better. Then as I was about to exit the Reserva I see a couple of familiar faces. I waved as I passed Meghan and Danny and picked up the pace a bit. It must have been my lucky day as there are more faces to follow: I went by Laura and we exchanged high fives while others looked our way due to our loud excitement and then gave a spook to Martin as I passed him at his water station. I made it to the home stretch and although I was tired I wasn't exhausted. I was able to sprint the end and walk more like my age afterwards. My recovery time was minutes instead of lying on the floor for minutes and minutes. It was a really good feeling and showed me that the training does pay off. I shaved about 15 seconds off my pace, which amounts to a lot when you think about 18 miles. All-in-all it was a great run and I can't believe that this will all be over in a month.