The Tinkoff 1000 is in The Bag (as is my 20 miler)

Early this year, Adam Tinkoff, better known as the Zen Runner, inspired a number of folks to set 1000 miles as a goal for this year. Personally the most I had ever run in a year was in 2006 when training for the Disney World Marathon. I managed to finish around 800 miles. So 1000 seemed like a good goal to go for - and looked like good community fun!

I started the year with the Disney World Marathon the first week of January - that gave me a good head start on my 1000 mile goal. However, in February when I sought physical therapy for my plantar fasciitis, I ended up taking 4 weeks off from running.

During the rest of the year I focused more on preparing for my races rather than the 1000. I figured it would come if I trained as planned for the Marine Corps Marathon and the 2008 Disney World Marathon. And so, here I am - passing the 1000 mile mark on my last 20 miler run for the year. I have completed nearly 1007 miles.

Today's 20 miler was a really tough run. In anticipation of the temptation to stop early, I planned a route that did not return near my house until the very end - to get home I would have to complete the run :-). The initial miles were not very encouraging either. After 6 or 7 miles, I was beginning to feel it - too early for such a long run. But the early miles were not the easiest. In addition to the uphill climb from mile 2 to 4, I was running into the wind - forecast to be around 18-20 mph. I felt better at 10 miles just last week. But I was going to tough it out.

At about 9 miles in as I was about to make a water stop at my office, I ran into Shirley's husband Dave who was out for a bike ride. He was not looking forward to the run back toward his house, since the wind had been at his back during the first part of his ride.

At about mile 12 I was feeling the familiar soreness in the feet, but my legs were starting to feel sore as well. By mile 15, I was really feeling quite done, but was determined to get a full 20 miles in, so I settled into my mental push.

About 17 miles in, I got a little bit of a second wind. I was feeling good that I was headed toward my house now, and that the run would soon be over. Everything was hurting and I was ready to be done.

On the last .1 mile down my street, I ran a comfortable, fast pace to finish up the run. 20.27 miles in 4:11:21 - a 12:24 min/mile pace with an AHR of 157. Overall I am very pleased. All my miles were under 13 min/mile.

Now it's time to put my feet up and address some Christmas cards!!!!