The Last Hoorah!

   This is it, do or die. Twenty short miles. If I can't hack it today, don't bother showing up next Sunday. In fact, if anything goes wrong today, I only have a week to recover. Wow! No pressure there. What's a guy to do?...
   Conquer the run! And that, my friends, is exactly what I did. I stepped out my door and said "Today is no different than yesterday when I ran eight miles or Monday when I ran three. I can do this."
   The day started with big ambition. It was chilly this morning, which makes it difficult for me, but I was ready. I plotted my run, I set my water, and, like so many times before, things didn't happen as planned. My early morning run soon became an afternoon run. I was not going to be discouraged though. I rolled with the punches. I put on my new shoes and I braved the head wind that comes with post-noon-time running.
   I had a fun route planned - a twenty mile loop from my front door and back. It is definitely easier when you don't have to make arrangements for someone to pick you up. So off I went into the wind. No joke. Straight into the wind. What a way to start! After the first mile it got much easier though. The first three miles were mostly down hill or level, making it a very encouraging start.  The next three were a little more challenging, but I was still feeling good. Nothing too bad and the view was starting to get great. Then came the wall. I'm not referring to the proverbial wall people always talk about at mile twenty. No. I'm talking about the wall of wind. I have never been so humbled. As I made the right hand turn, I was literally stopped in my tracks. It was amazing. As I was pressing forward, uttering impolite things under my breath, a runner came towards me with one heck of a pep in his step. I could have turned around there, but I didn't. I kept going. The next eight miles were tiresome, but I finished them... If I could've asked for just one thing, it would've been for someone to have turned that fan off. Apart from that, I felt great.
Instead of music today, I tried an audio book. I think that definitely had a positive effect. It made it very easy to get "lost" in what I was listening to and suddenly realize I had gone quite a ways.
   My next big challenge today was when I made my turn onto the home stretch. The thing with planning your run on the computer is that you don't see the inclines. Not the small ones and not the two mile ones. That's right. I planned myself a two mile uphill run after I had already run sixteen. Silly boy! There was only one option however. That was to tackle the challenge. Home was calling.
   The last two miles were smooth sailing after that climb. They kicked my butt, I can't lie, but it was worth it. I had beaten the head wind. I had beaten the hills. Now I just had to keep putting one foot in front of the other and finish strong.
When all was said and done, I finished my twenty miles averaging an eleven minute mile. Not bad for a day's work in a new pair of shoes. Oh yeah. No break in time for them. All or nothing!