BONK!

I successfully woke up at 5am and got out of bed again. WIN!

I headed out on my 17-miler. My first thought is that it's really early in the season to be running this far. I had a brief thought about going to the Y today but four hours on the elliptical is more than even I can stand. (And I do spend quality time on that thing.)

I started on the run and it was a gorgeous day. It was cool enough that steam was coming off the creek and Lake Nokomis. (Did you know there's a hill on Cedar ave before you get to the lake? I learned today.) It was long after that my friends Puke-y and Blergch came to visit. And they stayed for the rest of the run.

It was not a good run. actually, it was fine in most of Minneapolis. It was around the Franklin Ave bridge that I started feeling like true ish. It was shortly after that I had to stop running. I walked most of the rest of the way home. FAIL. I had a shocking realization that an overwhelming majority of the last, I dunno, third of the marathon will be up a freaking hill. Ask me how I feel about that.

I actually had good luck on the way home when I got really sick right next to awesome, um, facilities with running water, soap, and all kinds of other amenities. WIN number one.

WIN number two came when I took a short cut home. I usually run home along Minnehaha Parkway but there's a running/biking path that veers north of the parkway and out into nature between Hiawatha Ave and Lake Hiawatha (about a mile) and it's the prettiest place I've found so far in my running. And that's really saying something because I've been a lot of places.

Next week is mercifully an off week.

This year, I'm learning a lot more about my body and when I'm likely to get sick on long runs. It's only at certain times that I get sick and I'm learning the signs much better than last year. My fear is that I'm going to wind up running the marathon on a day like this. So I keep trying. Maybe I should come up with an alternate mileage plan. Not today.