Halfway to Boston...

I am on Cloud 9 right now because I had an AMAZING run yesterday. It started out with a 4 mile warmup, 3 of which were with two of my good friends and running buddies. It was a nice comfortable pace. Then I met up with Suzie and Ted, my fellow friends and Ogden Marathon buddies. I had told them that I wanted to do this 12 1/2 mile run at around 8:45 pace, which is the pace I think I could run Ogden on a perfect day. Well, we started the first mile at 8:38 and I felt great and thought that was pretty close. The next 2 miles were a little fast, 8:04 and 8:10, so Ted suggested we slow down. My heart rate was getting a little high so I agreed and we slowed down a little. I won't write every mile, but it was awesome!! I felt pretty good the whole time. It was definitely harder than normal, and I couldn't really carry on a conversation, just listen to Suzie and Ted. Well, were making such good time that I wanted to run the full 13.1 miles to have a half marathon PR (personal record.) So, I ran past the Y, when Ted and Suzie went to their cars and finished the last mile at 7:54. The total average was 8:23 minutes per mile! That is officially what I need to average to qualify for Boston. Woo Hoo! I didn't know I could run that fast for so long. I still have a ways to go, but it feels possible. And I felt awesome at the end. And the even better news is that Suzies shin splints feel better-yeah!! So, two more weeks and I finally get to crush my marathon PR with the help of good friends.