20 Miles, No If's and's or but's

I did it! No beating around the bush, I ran 20 miles yesterday and the accomplishment feels awesome! All excuses were thrown aside and I went out and did it! Thanks for the encouragement, I couldn't have done it without it. Since I had scratched both previous attempts at the 20, I wasn't going to let anything get in my way this time. I stayed in Friday night and got some things done around the house, and went to bed at a decent hour. I'm not  a huge fan of waking up earlier than necessary which is why I'm happy to live in Michigan right now. I woke up at 8:30 and left for my run around 9 and the temperature still barely hit 70 as I finished. I'm sure in a couple months when it is colder and barely hits 40 I will be telling you how much I hate living in Michigan, but I digress. I decided to do a ten mile loop that starts and ends at my house and run it twice. Once one way and change directions for the second lap, just to keep things from getting too boring. I felt pretty strong on my first lap, but as I neared mile ten and my house to get some water and GU (which I now have a new favorite flavor -TRI BERRY-) my overactive head started wondering how on earth was I going to run that far again? So to counteract this negative thinking I made sure to down my GU and water, use the facilities and get back on the road without taking more time than necessary. It worked! I was back out on the road feeling much better with a little bit of liquid energy coursing it's way through my body and renergizing muscles that previously seemed to be dying. I was able to keep up 8 min. miles for the first lap which I was happy with, but started to notice a little pain in my hip around mile 15. I kept trucking on past the tailgaters partying their way toward the home opener football game at WMU, with sounds of the marching band playing in the distance. By mile 16 I was in need of water, and I've realized i'm going to need to rethink my mid run hydration plan. Feeling thirsty as ever I jogged into the Burger King, and grabbed a glass of water. It helped for a couple miles but at mile 18 I was thirsty as ever again. I knew there was a golf course coming up around mile 19 and that was my next chance for water. Now I just had to make it that one more mile. I stopped to walk about 100 ft. or so due to thirst and my hip acting up again, but then the golf course was in sight so I lengthened my stride and jogged on in. To my surprise my college roommates sister was working behind the counter of the pro shop! I've played golf here at said location a few times this year and had never seen her there. Man I've got to tell you a drinking fountain never looked so welcoming in my life. After slurping away I said goodbye and off I went to finish out the last of  twenty miles! It wasn't the best feeling run I've had all year, probably far from it, but it wasn't the worst either. The feeling of accomplishment afterward though, that was amazing. I stretched out, and slipped into an arctic ice bath, followed by watching college gameday preview with my legs up against the wall. Then I ate, and ate, and drank some grape G2, and then ate some more. When I went bed last night I realized I may have eaten too much, but it was totally worth it. I hope everyone else's weekends went well and had awesome runs. Four weeks.....Four weeks is all that stands in the way of me and the finish line.....or is it a starting line because it's just the start of me running marathons? hmmm.....