Crappy 24-miler

This post is going to sound a lot like last Saturday's post, only last Saturday, I was running marathon goal pace and 5k pace and half marathon pace all during one run, and finally my legs gave way at the end.

I'm not sure what happened today. I mean, I could start with the excuses:

*Friday night, I covered a high school football game for the Austin American Statesman. (Yipppe, money!). The game was delayed 55 minutes because of lightning, so I didn't get home until midnight and didn't get to bed until 1 a.m., leaving me with 3 1/2 hours to sleep before waking up for Saturday's 24-miler.

*My last real good meal Saturday was around 3 p.m. I knew I was covering high school football, but it threw my eating schedule out of wack. I thought about eating a hot dog at the game during half time, but because of the late start, I spent the entire halftime writing my story. I didnt eat again until I got home and all I could stomach was a bowl of cereal. I had no breakfast.

*The weather was cool but the humidity was 90 percent. I don't do well in humidity.

So, knowing all these things, I really tried to take it easy during the run. I had a lot of mile splits that began with 9. Every once in a while, I'd feel ok and hit a low 8, but that was every once in a while. I sucked down four GUs and 8 salt tablets, but my legs were cooked by Mile 20. I mean just cooked. I walked most of Miles 22 and 23 before finally getting a second wind to get the last mile done in right about a 10:00 min/mile.

Maybe if I had eaten right or slept more than 3 1/2 hours (of which 2 when my eyes were really closed), I would have done much better. Still, I am getting a little nervous. I want to be getting stronger as the marathon gets closer, and the last few miles of my last two long runs (albeit 24-mile runs) have really sucked.

I need to spend this last month getting healthy (sore soleus/gastroc muscle). I still hope to mash out a 3:20 at the marathon, but eeesh, I'm certainly not as confident today as I was two weeks ago.