Long walk

Today I did the longest training racewalk for my half marathon, which is in 3 weeks. I did 14.1 miles in 2 hr 40 min, for 11:20 per mile average pace. I took it easy, with an average heart rate of 135. I was pretty tired by the end, and my legs are stiff now that I have been home for a while, but I feel good overall. I was able to do some quicker miles near the end; I did just over 11:00 miles in Liberty Park at miles 11 and 12 or so, with no problems.

My dogs came along, of course, and they did great. Dogs are obviously much better at this sort of thing than people :). They're tired now, though, and are sleeping.

Today was the longest walk I have ever done! I know that it's not that long for the marathoner and ultramarathoner types, but for me it was a big deal. It was about 22.6 km, by the way. I have new respect for just how hard it is to go that far, after this walk. I really can't imagine doing another 12 miles, but I think that is just what I am going to do in October. I'm contemplating doing the Nike Women's Marathon in SF with Team in Training, to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. My dad was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia in December 2006, so I want to do something to benefit research into the disease as well as support of patients with the disease.

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In other news, I managed to take off a little weight this week! Yay! I feel good and back on track with my eating, despite Easter. I was very diligent to count all of those chocolate eggs I ate :). Last night Loren and I went on a date, and hung out at the bookstore and had coffee and dessert. He got an amazing piece of chocolate cake, and I restrained myself and had a rice krispy treat instead. I did eat 3 very small bites of his cake :) but the rice krispy treat was great, too, and I didn't feel deprived. Victory!!!