16+ mile training run

I knocked out a 16+ mile training run last weekend - my longest run since last summer. I hadn't planned on running so far since I have a Half Marathon scheduled 8 short days later.
I showed up to my Saturday morning group training run planning on 8-10, maybe 12 miles depending on who else was putting in a longer run. Jim, who I refer to as the "Energizer Bunny" 'cause he just keeps going and going..., annouced he was planning on a 16-mile route so I thought I'd just go ahead and join him. I was thinking it was pretty cool that I'm in good enough shape that I could attempt a 16-mile run on a whim. We had a pretty good training run. I was able to keep up with Jim for about 14-15 miles and then just run out of gas. I had to slow down significantly for the last mile or two. I expect that this 16+ mile run was a little too much considering I'm racing the following weekend, but it's a good investment looking forward to the full Marathon in August...

Tilden Tough Ten

Well, yesterday was the Tilden Tough Ten. First of the East Bay Trail Triple crown events. I was rested and had a good run. I finished the 10-mile course with a time of 87:40. Over 6 minutes faster than I ran this same event last year!
It was a perfect morning for running, nice out but not too warm. I ran well rested and ran smart. It's very tempting to start out at too fast a pace. Fortunantly, for much of the race I was running with Jim from the Lake Merritt Joggers and Striders Marathon training group. He's great at keeping a good pace. This is a small event limited to 300 runners. It was a pretty solid field of runners, most casual runners opted for the Bay to Breakers which is held on the same day. A time of 87:40 put me in 148th place out of 276 finishers - solidly midpack.
My next race will be the very challenging Lake Chabot Trail Challenge Half Marathon... Stay tuned!