It's all downhill from here....

And thank goodness!! My 20 miler today can be summed up in a 4 letter word (no not that one) and I'd like to repeat it several times as well. WIND WIND WIND WIND So after giving Mother Nature a hard time she accomodated me by keeping the weather clear of rain, she did not however keep it clear of a strong a steady wind.

I left A-town around 9, rolled into Chicago, parked ate all the good stuff. I left the apt around 1:45. I really really really didn't want to have to go as far South as I went for my 18 miler so I decided to head North for 2.5 miles. I haven't run North on the trail in probably a year. It's still under construction, and the newly paved part looks like it will rock when they finally open it. I immediately noticed the wind, then the wind was actually causing me breathing problems - I'm thinking how fun the next 18 miles will be. As a side note I saw a kite surfer, just a guess, but I'm thinking Lake Michigan is hella cold right now....

So I turned around after 2.5 to head South, it was great, the wind at my back, I was cruisin'! BUT the whole time I had a little devil in the back of my head telling me how bad it was going to suck when I had to turn around and head back home. BOY was that little devil right. My final 7.5 miles was brutal, face to the wind, stick your chin out and barrel through it brutal. At one point my steady pace dropped to a 10:15 mile because the wind was so strong, thankfully this was only for about half a mile.

Overall I felt pretty strong. I wanted to finish at or under 3 hours and I came in at 2:51:03, this is actally only about 4 min off BQ time and if the dang wind wouldn't have kicked my butt I may have been able to cut it - SWEET! I'm feeling really good about a possible sub-4, but only if the weather cooperates and the hills aren't my enemy.

I'm crazy tired now though and my legs are a little less than thrilled. Perhaps tomorrow cross-training will only involve light lifting....