Major long run today. And, the south wind did blow! Set out at 5:30 a.m. thinking this to be a 3 hour run. Finished first half in average time, came home (it was the halfway point) refilled water bottles, had a snack and potty break, and went out again to finish the second half. I was getting pretty tired by mile 14. Then, we hit the park and got to run about 2 miles in the grass, which felt nice. By mile 16 I was doing the "shuffle step" run. You know the one? Before mile 17 there was a hill and I just couldn't run up it. Made it about halfway and then had to walk. Ended up walking almost to mile 17, then ran again. Had to stop at each mile marker thereafter for a drink and bite of granola bar. Totally exhausted when I was finished and pretty disheartened. I hate training for a marathon over the winter. I felt like I was in such great shape in October for St. George and now I feel like I'll be lucky to finish this thing in 4 more weeks. Also feeling some major burnout. Cannot wait for this marathon to be over and then we can see where we go from here. In the middle of trying to sell our house and move so the stress level is definitely up, too, so a break would be nice for a bit. I won't stop running, but at least it won't be so intense. On a lighter note, surprisingly to both me and my husband, other than being tired the next morning, we really didn't feel very sore. Certainly not 20 miles sore! That's definitely a plus! | 