20 miles!!

It's ALL mental!  I broke the run up into small segments to mimic reaching each aid station (I used the car as the "aid station"- I had water and Gatorade in the car). So I was only ever like a mile at most away from the car because each aid station is about 1-2 miles apart.

So I was able to "practice" when and where I will eat and drink during the race.  I looked on the aid station map and figured out at which mile each station is at.  So I could plan when I will reach each one and whether I will eat, drink, etc.  In doing all that I ended up just focusing on very tiny distances.  For instance, if the next "aid station" is 1.5 miles away then I would just run .75 away from the car and then back again.  It was a LOT of out and backs but it forced me to almost forget the looming 20 miles because I was constantly focused on the short distance between each station.  

The first 4 miles flew by.  When I reached 5 I realized I was 25% done. Then soon enough I was halfway done!  The next 5 miles were a blur and I knew I had just 5 more miles to go.  Then before I knew it I was at 17.5 and thinking "omg, only 2.5 left!"  Then it was over!    I was hard of course and truthfully it was so much if a blur that I don't even want to think too much about it (20 flipping miles!) but I felt good!  I little bit of hip joint pain around mile 14 but I ran into the bathroom real quick and applied some KT tape and it made a significant difference.  

Did I want to run another 6.2 miles?  NO!  But could I?  ABSOLUTELY!  I am so ready for Chicago!  (It helped that today's weather was almost exactly what I can expect during the marathon!). Speaking of weather, I ended up wearing gloves the entire time. It was chilly and windy and my hands are always cold anyway.   This change allowed me to alter my plan for carrying my food/fuel.  I was able to carry the sport beans in snack sized ziploc bags- inside the gloves. That freed up space in the tiny spi bag so I was able to put 3 Stinger Waffles and my phone (without the case) in there.  The duct tape worked really well but this is even better.  And if I want to take the gloves off I can just carry them (with the beans) in my hand.  I'm used to carrying something in my hand while running anyway because I used to use a handheld water bottle holder during the summer.

So there ya go.  That was my day.  Time for Carrabbas and the DVR!