Second Century

Rode my second 100-miler of the year yesterday. Started by getting up early enough to get it done with time left in the day (translation: wheels on pavement by 8 am). As my husband would say, I lollygagged (translation: I didn't leave the house until 8:24). I'd like to say I was confident enough to finish 100 miles in 5:30. I wasn't. But, the day was amazing - sunny, 60-70 degrees, light-medium wind from the west. I averaged exactly 18 mph on the way out, and after my turnaround I was holding 20-22 mph for about an hour until I hit the rolling hills of the park. (I knew I had to have a hefty average above 18 mph by the time I hit the Ridge Road hill on the parkway.) Long story short: success! 100 miles in 5:32. My PR for the distance. And I managed to scrape up the energy to get out and run 20 minutes afterwards. It was supposed to be IM race pace. Yeah right. But who really cared at that point? Not me. I was running and I could just barely visualize the 26.2-miler in my future.