Thank you, God, for keeping me humble...

This was the refrain going through my mind yesterday morning as I struggled to complete the last 20-mile run of my training. And struggled is the word. I knew I was in trouble around mile 14 when I started slowing on what was already a slow pace day. All I had to do was hold an 8:50 pace. At this point in my training, that should be a no-brainer. But glances at my Garmin showed me my pace was creeping up to an 8:52... 8:55. I'd speed up to lower it back down but it's fighting a losing battle at that point as the speeding up sucks any remaining energy from you. 

I was having a hard time mentally with the fact that the run wasn't going well. Lately I've been not only nailing my paces  for runs but often beating them. I wanted to end this last long run on a high note. Instead, it was a reality check.