Of course, the rehearsal wasn't perfect. I'd stuck around in the city after work on Friday to go look at an apartment, so I got home from work far later than usual, which meant I didn't have dinner until 9:00. (Although, it worked out pretty well - I may go for the late dinner before race day anyway.) I also didn't get to sleep in and relax on Friday since I had to go to work (whereas the day before the race is a Saturday, and the only thing I'll have to do that day is get down to the expo to pick up my number/chip/whatnot). Dinner was spaghetti and breadsticks and salad, then it was home to relax and get my butt to bed.

The race starts at 7:35, so the plan was to get up at 6:30 so I could be on the trail by 7:30. Again, not perfect, since I'll have to be up far earlier than an hour before the race starts, but close enough for now. I've been having Clif bars for breakfast before my long runs all summer, but last week hit the limit of my Clif bar tolerance. I had no desire to choke one down Saturday morning, nor do I expect to have any desire to choke one down before the race. I decided to experiment with having a bagel and peanut butter for breakfast, had a big glass of water since I felt thirsty, got my stuff together and headed out.

I got to the trail and headed out. For as keyed up as I felt, I was able to settle into a groove almost immediately, and it felt great. Already this run was feeling much better than last weekend's. I concentrated on taking it easy, keeping the pace slow, keeping myself loose and relaxed, and going with the flow. I made a quick pit stop after about an hour and then had some gel. By the halfway point, it was clear my stomach was not happy about something. I made another stop and then got back on the trail. I wound up doing a lot of walking during miles 9 and 10 while my stomach settled down. However, trying to figure out what the heck I ate that was sitting so badly gave me something to think about for a few miles.

By mile 11, I was running again. My stomach had settled, I still felt loose and strong, and I'd decided it was a tie between the peanut butter on my bagel that morning and the popcorn on the train home Friday night, and made a mental note to avoid both of them before the marathon. On one hand, I was annoyed that I'd put such a dent into my long run by trying something new. On the other, I was glad I'd found out then instead of during the marathon itself.

By mile 13, the sun was out and it was heating up quickly. It was about now that I realized that I hadn't put sunblock on before I left that morning. I always always forget that you can get sunburned just as easily in 50-degree weather as you can in 80-degree weather, which is why I'd forgotten it in the morning. However, by now it was nearly 75 degrees, and I was kicking myself. I figured that since I couldn't do anything about it, I might as well stop worrying about it. Oops.

Near the mile 14 mark, I went off the trail to stop at the McDonald's about 1/4 of a mile down the road. I made another quick pit stop, and asked if they could refill my (now empty) water bottle with water. They did! No problem, and no charge. Fantastic. Back on the trail, six miles to go, and I still felt pretty good. I was getting tired, but I was still keeping a decent pace and still felt pretty strong, considering I'd been running for nearly 3 hours. A little over an hour and I'd be done!

Things went well until the last 3 miles or so, when I started to get mentally tired. I wanted to be done. My legs kept trying to pick up the pace, but I kept holding back. Never having run more than 16 miles, I didn't want to start picking it up with 3 miles left to go, only to completely die a mile from my car. By the 18-mile mark, I was out of water (I really, really need to come up with either a better plan to get water/Gatorade on the long runs - either run shorter out-and-backs so I can refill at my car, stash bottles, carry more with me, run on trails with drinking fountains/stores, or a combination of the above. I've run out of beverage before the end of my run too many times this summer, and it's just no good), mentally exhausted, and starting to feel a twinge on the inside of my right knee. I was coming up on a street crossing, so I took the change to stop and stretch out my legs really well. I crossed the street, started jogging again, and both of my knees immediately locked up with some sort of crampy ouchy thing.

I don't know what it was, but it hurt, and brought me to a dead stop. It was all I could do not to sit down on the side of the path and cry. Instead, I bent over, massaged around my knees, and took some deep breaths and tried to calm myself down. Once I'd relaxed, I started walking. Then walking a little faster. I didn't want to walk the rest of the way back to my car, so I tried a little jogging, and it felt OK. I knew there was a water fountain about a mile and a half away, so I made getting there my goal.

Once I got there, I sucked down an insane amount of water, making it obvious that I hadn't been drinking enough (see above re: finding ways to get more water on my long runs with me) at all. Once I'd filled up myself, I filled up my water bottle and then set off for the last half-mile. Finally, I let my legs go as fast as they wanted to - I was almost done and knew I'd make it. When I hit the end of the trail, I couldn't believe it. I'd done it. I'd run for 20 miles. Four and a half hours after I'd left my car (actual running time was 4:04 - but there were a lot of pit stops), I was back at it.

I walked a lap around the parking lot, stretched out a bit, then changed from my running shoes into my sandals. I also poured the water out of my water bottle over both my legs. It was cold and it felt great. I headed home where I had a nice cold bath (I haven't worked up to ice baths yet - getting my legs in the cold water is challenging enough, but it really does help quite a bit. Plus, it just feels good, once you get past the whole "It's freakin' freezing, Mr. Bigglesworth" aspect of it) and then a nice warm shower. I called my boyfriend and talked him into going out to eat with me (because there was no way I was going to make my own breakfast/lunch/whatever at that point), and then immediately made my way into a bed where I took a nice long nap.

Sunday, I couldn't believe how good I felt. Sure, my legs were a little stiff and rock-like, but not to the point where I was walking funny. I wouldn't recommend wearing 3-inch heels to church the day after a 20-mile run (especially if said church service involves a lot of standing - trust me on this), but other than that, I wasn't too much worse for the wear. Today? The muscles are still a little tight, but nothing major. I'm actually looking forward to my run tonight for a chance to loosen them up and really get them moving again.

Now? Now it's all downill from here. My job for the next three weeks is to stay fit and stay healthy. If I can do that, everything else will just fall into place.

Less than three weeks until the big day, and, finally, I'm more excited about it than I am nervous.