I WILL NEVER RUN ANOTHER STEP AS LONG AS I LIVE !!!!!

Until next time, anyway.

My feet hurt. I do not like these new shoes. They're OK for 7 or 8 miles but I just do not have enough toe room for a long run, even though I cut slits in front of my toes. Now I don't know what to do. I can get new shoes but I don't have time before ChesapeakeMan to try them out on a long run.... today was my long run, 3 hours (probably 16-17 miles) 3 weeks before the race.
My hips hurt. My lower pelvic bones hurt. My skin hurts in a couple spots where it was chafing.
Note to self: Do the run in my bike shorts. My thighs won't chafe and the chamois absorbs sweat :-)
Note to self: Put lube on the inside of my arm where it touches my Camelback tube. Or skip the Camelback and just get water at the aid tables. Yeah, that's a good idea.

But I feel satisfied.... I kept telling myself the last hour, "Push through the pain, push through the pain," kind of like having a baby only the run didn't hurt that much.... and I pushed through the pain and the pain actually backed off a bit. I'm proud of that. I know I will have to push through pain at ChesapeakeMan.

I took 2 gel flasks, one with my own homebrew, one with Nancy's. I liked hers better :-)

Note to self: Don't forget to take Tylenol before it's needed. I forgot to take any with me today and I would have been much better off if I'd taken it at halftime, as I do during marathons, even though I don't usually hurt at that point. If I take it then, I don't hurt later. I took some as soon as I got home but I wish it had been already working.

Anyway, that's done. I'll go measure it tomorrow. Now I just need to do another bike ride of, I don't know, maybe 80 miles, and I'll have that down. I did my long swim Tuesday. I think it was Tuesday. I think it was this past Tuesday but it might have been the Tuesday before that... I have so lost track of time. Anyway, my longest swim, longest run, and longest bike (Reston Century, 107 miles) are out of the way.

I think I am actually ready to taper. Wow. Can't believe it's time already.... and that I feel I have actually trained enough!!! I can't believe I'm saying that.... but I don't think I'm undertrained anymore. I think it's coming out just about right, at the right time. Totally amazing.