Almost There

So as the countdown continues to November 19th and my first marathon in 12 years it was a 3 day/40mpw

Tuesday 11 miles
Having logged 189 miles for October I opted to "go the extra mile" on Tuesday and make it 11 to round out at an even 200 miles.
Had I had leeway I might've pushed the run back to Wednesday but losing the chance of 200 miles was less than having to deal w/ "Trick Or Treaters" as the final mile was me slowing to avoid kids hoped up on Sugar not looking where they were going it got so bad I spent most of the final mile out in the road rather than the sidewalk,having seen my marathon plans almost go up in a puff of smoke two weeks ago w/ a small child clattering into me I think I could be forgiven for being a tad leery and throw in the fact gone 6pm it was now dark I wasn't taking any chances.

Thursday 9 miles
Having gone the "extra mile" Tuesday I was rewarded  w/ a mile less on Thursday
W/ the clocks about to go back Sunday and this being my final mid week run till post marathon I also knew it was my last weekday run in shorts and short sleeves and finishing in daylight,I made sure to take one last lingering look over my shoulder at 6pm as I closed the door behind me to take in the daylight,it'll all be very different come Tuesday November 28th when I resume training post marathon.

Saturday 20 miles
Final 20 miler/long run of the campaign
I was concerned that Friday's evening of revelry at The Electric Factory to see Flogging Molly may have a negative effect on the run,on my feet most of the evening/not hydrating as much as I would sat on my futon, not getting home till almost 1am and getting up at 8am etc etc.......
Out the door by 9.30am for a few miles early on I feared I may've erred in my wardrobe choices,while the sun was out it was a little brisk when not in the direct sunshine but I hedged my bets that a 2.5 hour run between 9.30am-12pm would heat up an hour or so into the run and frankly too many clothes might see me overheat,it's not like I have  sag car/bike behind me to retrieve any layers I chose to peel off so shorts and short sleeves it was.
As is my won't I wore the Garmin even thought this was my third 20 mile run out and back to Manyunk,I pretty much know every mile mark now but I was somewhat shocked to see at mile 4 a 6.53 split followed by a 6.45 split at mile 5.
In 41 years of running I still can't judge pace but the fact I was clipping off sub 7 minute miles w/out feeling it was maybe a feather in my cap.
Reaching the turnaround in just over 1.10 I figured a 2.25 finish was there for the taking and ended up finishing in 2.24.44 off of 7.14 mile pace
For the record my mile splits were:6.55-6.40-7.05-6.53-6.45-6.57-7.06-7.08-7.20-7.20-7.20-7.34-7.29-7.38-7.19-6.58-7.20-8.01-7.25-7.19
And that was all she wrote folks....more or less, this coming week I will go for a 2day/20mpw no midweek training runs,both races at the Rocky Run next Saturday 5k and 10 miles w/ a mile warm up and cool down for 15 miles and a easy/recovery 5 miler on Sunday b4 a week off prior to the marathon.