It's on

My marathon training began in earnest today with the longest run of my life. Since it was a 12-miler and the marathon is 26.2, it would seem I have my work cut out for me. But today's run felt comfortable, and though I don't think I had another 14.2 in me when it was over, I wasn't dead either.

So here are the splits. One lap around Cherokee Park is 2.4 miles, so I did that lap five times, with my iPod along for the ride to stave off boredom.

16:38 + 17:33 + 17:47 + 16:58 + 17:10 = 1:26:06. That's an average mile of 7:10.5, and that's nowhere close to a pace I can sustain for a marathon. I'm thinking my pace will be closer to 8 minutes a mile.

Now I'm going to eat an entire pizza in my pajamas. I'm pretty sure that's what you're supposed to do after a 12-miler.

Edit: I really did eat the whole thing. I haven't done that since Rome.