This is it! November 6....I leave for New York in the PM tomorrow!

Today I plan to do between 20 and 22 miles. I did 20 last Tuesday.
The problem is that these long runs are VERY time consuming and take
4 hours, including shower afterwards.

The rain today is the biggest factor for me. As the marathon is less than 2
weeks away, I cannot afford to get sick!

when I did my 16 miles on Monday, I felt like I was goinmg to pass out several times.
This was because when a person runs that far, he or she must replace sugars and elctrolytes, often done through a swig of Gatorade. I hadn't had any and by the time I got in the shower after the run, I nearly blacked out.

Runners running beyond 18 miles must replace sugars. And death can occur when an unprepared individual hits the "wall". The human body was not meant to run this far and artificail replacement of this nutrients is absolutely essential. This is often done with gels and forms of bars. At the Chicago marthon, these are passed out at mile 18.

I've leaned my lesson this time...

It was a beautiful morning in Chicago. The skies were clear and the sun rose over the Lake. I decided to make this my long-run day instread of Sunday, which was a bit blustery for a long run.

Yesterday at sunset I cross trained and did 18 miles on the bike, from Edgewater down to Buckingham Fountain on the Lakefront Path. yesterday, because of the NE headwind, it was sort of tough to go backl north and it was pretty chilly on the hands.

Today, the 16 miles went OK until mile 14. But then, I think my electrolytes were lacking and I needed to Gatorade. I had none and started feeling dizzy. Anyway, I did the 16 miles but did a few short walks to rest up.

My schedule for the week will be: Tuesday 4 miles, Wednesday: 9 miles, Friday: Rest, Saturday: 18 miles.

It was an exceptionally hot day for October yesterday, lower 80s. By constrast, it is in the 50s today. I ran from the Albany Pk neighborhood to Edgebrook at Central and Devon, then back to my house in Edgewater on the Lake. It took longer than I'd hoped and I was more tired than I wanted to be.

Alright, I'll admit it. When I get up at 5:30AM to run and I can see the vapor ofmy breath because it is cold, I do not feel motivated. If it is raining I don't want to run. In fact, if the sun isn't shining, I get unmotivated.

But today, I am cutting work short and I am going to run for three hours in the woods on a nice path. Yes, I will have to carry a water bottle, but the sunshine always motivates me.

And I surfed 2-4 ft clean clean waves on a NNW right down the street from my house...with no cop hassles. Actually that is why I am feeling so good today!