Training in Montana

Ran the first 20 miles of the marathon course and it was a great run. Ran it with my friend Emily and her 62 yr old Dad. He is a stud! Looks more like 47 and runs like it. He kept up just like one of the gang and we had a nice run into town. The marathon starts in the town of Molt, population very small. The only reason to go there is to have breakfast at the only store in town. They have live music from 8-12 on Saturday mornings. We saw lots of people driving out there. Between Molt & Billings there aren't too many people - maybe 10, and that's if they have a big family. The run goes out 1.5 miles then adds on some distance by going South for 1.25 miles then turning around and heading back to the main highway. Our hands were freezing! Thankfully I brought my thin knit gloves but even then I couldn't use my thumbs to apply my chapstick at 5 miles. I had to bite the lid off and use both hands to move it across my lips. Felt great though. 

The only interesting things about this run is that the pace was very honest. I guess I ran them faster than normal, and felt bad about that. I didn't mean to. The pace the first 15 was an 8:36 then slowed a bit as her Dad slowed, and finished at an 8:41. Still a very healthy pace. I felt nothing in the foot like I felt last week, but a couple times did feel a millisecond cramp in my right foot. Weird. Hope that doesn't spring up. My groin/lower abs felt pretty rough most of the way, and afterwards it hurt for a few hours. I took a nap and the pain woke me up as I couldn't get comfortable. It went away after a bit and hasn't come back so no damage done I think. Calves feel pretty sore the next day but nothing else. Why the calves? Weird. I don't recall having them sore after a training run.

Here's the splits, elevation, and HR: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/215510974. Bring on the marathon September 16th!