So close!

Mr. Fury and I went up to the cabin again this weekend for the third weekend in a row. Yet again, we had rainy, cloudy weather for the third consecutive trip, but at least it was warm this time! It was a nice relaxing weekend (kind of) with just my parents, Mr. Fury and me.

On Saturday morning, I had to wake up nice and early to beat the heat for my 18 mile run. The alarm went off at 6am, and I rolled over to look at Mr. Fury with a pained look on his face. He was struck with a headache with little sleep and poor nutrition the day prior being the culprits. Mr. Fury was out for a long run, and there was no way I was going to convince him otherwise. I got out of bed, went upstairs and popped a couple pieces of bread into the toaster. I reached for the peanut butter, which felt lighter than normal, opened up the top and was horrified at what I found. One teaspoon of chunky peanut butter left on the bottom of the container. There was no way that was going to cover two pieces of toast. What barbaric creature would leave such a measly amount of delicious peanut butter in the cupboard disguised as a full container? I searched through my memory bank to discover it was me. Whoopsies. I guess I had that one coming, didn't I? I made-do with the small amount of peanut butter and slopped some blueberry jam on top. I threw in a banana and I was pleasantly surprised at how satisfying it tasted.

After I got dressed and headed out the door, I walked to the end of the driveway, threw a full container of water under the mailbox, and started my run. It didn't take long to realize that the head and humidity were going to be a factor during my run. I said a little prayer that the sun would stay hidden under the clouds for the duration, and threw on my iPod to help distract me from the boring scenery. On tap today were three out-and-back 6 mile loops, all coming back to the mailbox to replenish my water supply. The first leg went swimmingly, as in I felt like I had to swim through the air more than run. I challenged myself on a very hilly stretch of road for the second leg, and then for the last leg went back to the first leg out-and-back. All I could think for the last 3 miles of road was, "Oh Dear Lord, I have to run 8.2 more miles on race day." It's easy to forget you have been through much worse when you're swunning in ridiculous humidity and heat. Here is my wish for race day: low humidity and 40 degrees. That would be puuuuuurrfect, but we are talking about Twin Cities Marathon so who knows what we'll get. I predict Armageddon-like heat, hail and sink holes near the finish line.

Anywho, back to my run. I ended my run at 2:36 on the dot. I had to do a double-take at my watch. 2:36? For 18 miles? 2:36 for real?? Yeah, 2:36. Track workouts and tempo runs are going to make this the best and fastest marathon to date for me (I hope). I calculated it, and if I keep an 8:40 pace for the full 26.2, I'll finish around 3:45. My goal is to finish around/under 3:55, and now I know that is absolutely do-able. The only frustrating part of all this is how close I am to a BQ! I realize TCM is not the race this year where I will BQ, but it's in my sights!