Day 69 (haha, 69!)

Day 67 was a rest day and Day 68 turned into another rest day since I haven't been feeling too well.

Can't miss the long slow distance day however so I headed out to the Rock Island trail. Not sure if it was the 75 degree weather or the cloudy sky or maybe the extra day off, but I felt great. I planned to do the scheduled 17 miler but as I got to the 8.5 mile mark where I was supposed to turn around and run back I decided to fuck it and run 20 instead... must of been runners high! Not sure if this was a mistake or not, but I finished the run (although the last mile or two was brutal). I'm hype right now though... although I'm sure tomorrow's going to bring the pain!

Distance: 20.02 miles
Duration: 2:56:43
Pace: 8:50
HR Avg/Max: 141/162
notes:
Good overall run. Stopped for water at 4 mile mark and then again on the way back at 16 miles... I'm confident that I probably was getting pretty dehydrated during this run but I'm thinking that by training in less than optimal conditions my body will really excel come marathon time, when I can actually drink water more often. Also, I mean to start experimenting with energy gels on these long runs but I figure that not using anything will help train my body to better use glycogen come marathon time. Overall I'm pretty pumped about this run. I figure if I could have kept this pace up for another 6 miles (although my last 2 miles were at 9:40 pace), then I'd be looking at a 3:50 marathon time... My speed is still not where I want it but my endurance is definitely building and I still have tons more training before Chicago!