20 miles and running

I hit two milestones this week: 20-mile training runs and 45 years on the planet. The first one was especially gratifying because I negative split the last five miles, averaging a 7:29 pace. This is a good way to test your readiness for a marathon. Some coaching sites say that whatever pace you can hold on the last five miles of a 20-miler is about what you can do on race day for the full marathon. We'll see. I'll do another 20-miler in two weeks and then begin tapering (reducing the length of the long runs) for race day.
The second milestone also brought some change. I learned that the Boston qualifying time for 45-yr-old men is 3:30. Since I had been training to run a 3:20, this initially seemed like good news. It's a perfect invitation to ease up. But on futher reflection, pride will not let me. I still want to be able to run like a 44-yr-old and get in with the 3:20. It's good to have the cushion, but I don't plan to use it.
Onward!