Just another 20-miler

Today we ran our second and final 20-mile run in preparation for the Chicago Marathon. The way I felt when I woke up this morning, I was ready for a miserable run very possibly to be cut shorter than planned. We went to a wedding last night, at which I wore 5" wedges, drank in moderation, and danced to excess, then had a night cap care of Taco Bell at about 10:30PM and stayed up until about 11:00 to finish an episode of Breaking Bad. At 6:00AM today I was feeling tired, my toes still had that post-squished-into-a-shoe feeling, and there were some serious hangover symptoms.

I bucked up, got dressed, took the Browns to the Super Bowl (FYI, they are winning at halftime against the Vikings right now), sucked down my Gatorade Prime Pre-Game Fuel, and on our way to our running pals we were. Still, I was not exactly in the 20-mile spirit.

I don't know if it was the crisp, cool air (Welcome to Northwest Ohio, autumn!), the Gatorade Prime in my belly, or the running gods being kind to me, but it didn't take long for the karma from last night to wear away. I did make a pit stop at the nature preserve, which is usually closed as early as we run, but the stars were aligned and the cleaning dude was there, so I was able to get in and clear my bowels of what remained after my first morning visit to the toilet. The guy even offered up a roll of toilet paper in case there weren't any in the stalls! In spite of the way I felt early, this run was meant to be.

Around mile 10 I was feeling like a champ. At Side Cut there were lots and lots of doggies for a 1-mile walk to benefit doggy cancer research. Doggies make everyone happy, so they made this great run even greater. On my doggy high, I strong-armed our group into taking the more challenging route out of the park, which involves a solid ascent up Broadway into uptown Maumee. At the top, I felt like Leonardo Dicaprio.

Around mile 13 Joe and I parted ways with the others in our group who weren't up for 20 miles; one is sick, one was having calf issues, another was having blister issues, and the other just wasn't feeling it. The Balwinskis trudged on, even hitting negative splits in the final few miles.

If today's run is any indication of how I'm going to run Chicago in a few weeks, call me a happy camper. Also, hangovers can suck it.