28k

I ran 28 km this morning. Each and every one of those kilometers was run under a constant drizzle, not too big a nuisance, to be honest. The best thing of all was that there were no injuries, which in the end is what really matters. My lower body is now a bit stiff, but that's OK.

Since earlier this week I had in mind to do a long run today. The goal is still to run a marathon next year, something which starts to seem doable. My time today was 2h37m, which gives a pace of about 5m35s per kilometer. A simple extrapolation at that average pace cuts me a bit of slack to run the marathon under 4 hours, but not for much. Of course, this is merely wishful thinking, as anything can happen in the unknown territory of those last 14 km I am yet to explore. So far so good, though. I finished in good shape today, feeling simultaneously very tired and utterly convinced that I could just go on and cover the damn distance. That may seem contradictory, I know, but running is actually full of oddities. One of the really odd things about long-distance running is that after a certain point in your run you feel so tired that you may start thinking how much better it would feel to be walking instead. However, that is far from being true. Your body adapts itself to the rhythm of running to the point that when you finish you may discover that walking is actually much worse than running. So much so that you will happily set out again at some gentle jog to relieve the soreness of your legs and joints.