Notes

This run absolutely sucked. Probably the worst one in marathon training I have had.
It was already a muggy start at 6am. 68* with almost 90% humidity. I could feel the thickness in the air as I stood in my driveway waiting for my Garmin to catch a satellite (which by the way, took forever). I started out with no route in mind, I just wanted to wind through neighboring subs and catch some areas I have never been through. Right from the beginning, I started to think about work and my 4 days off and crap still waiting for me when I get back on Tuesday. It took me about 5 miles before I could actually rid my mind of work stuff. My legs felt tight from the beginning as well as my lungs from the thick air. I searched high and low for sprinklers and only found one set...one set in all of 18 miles to cool me off, and this was at the 3rd mile! I got lost in a hilly sub and couldn't find my way out for about 4 miles. I swear I probably went down one street 4 times trying to find a main road. Once I got out, I decided to stick with areas I was familiar with.
Right before the 13th mile, I stepped in a huge puddle which drenched my shoes and socks. I actually had to stop and take my shoes off to wring my socks out a bit! By about mile 14 I started walking some, I was so beat, and felt defeated. I thought about calling it quits early at 16 miles at my parents for a rescue ride, but I told myself that I am not a quitter. "You ran all these miles feeling like absolute shit, what's another 2 more?" So I ran and I walked and felt like stopping with every step. I was hot, miserable, and not happy, and I even started to cry. I came to my house at 17.80 miles, and just because I was so damn stubborn throughout this whole run, I wouldn't quit until I saw 18 miles on my watch, so I continued to run past my house in so much pain because I am not a quitter and one damn stubborn runner!
One high light of these miserable miles...I saw a hula hoop at the end of someones driveway that I came THIS close to stopping to play with, but thought I would end up dislocating a hip with the way I felt.