This past weekend I ran my first 20-miler of Steamtown training. It was planned (unlike last year's ), nothing went awry, and I finished it, actually faster than I'd hoped. I ran four early miles on Bayshore prior to meeting with running buddy Nicole--who was running 16--and about 50 others who were running with the Blue Sharks group on Davis Island. Those first four miles were the worst. The air was humid and heavy, and I felt as though I was just dragging myself through the miles. I got back to DI just before 5:30 a.m., when the group run was scheduled to start. People socialized for a bit, and then Nicole and I decided to start. Shortly thereafter, many of the other runners passed us by, which was a sort of frustrating feeling, like at a race, but we kept steady at just under a 10-minute pace. We had a lot of distance yet to go. The mileage through the residential section of DI--about four or five miles--still felt difficult, but once we got out of it and the sun began ...