15.

ok, so i had never run 15 and hadn't run 14 in three weeks, but man o man, that hurt. for the first time it was my feet bothering me, and my socks were bloody from blisters by the time I got home.

it took me forever to get out of the house this morning. i just wasn't convinced that my setup was right. i realized that the water fountains on the path are still turned off and 15 is too far to run on one bottle, so i was borrowing Ben's camelback, which i was sure i'd regret, but ended up not minding at all. filled it with the gleukos stuff, threw two clif shots in the pocket, keys, lip stuff, road id, molly... an hour later, i was off.

running the lakefront path in snow is awesome. until mile 12 or so. when running anywhere isn't quite awesome for me yet.

i followed my plan of walk every 5 to grab a clif shot and drink but i found it hard. the first 5 was fine. by the end of the second 5 i was super thirsty. then the plan broke down. i allowed myself an extra stop at the shed aquarium - around mile 12.5 - where i drank too much and walked a little too long and had trouble coming back. then i missed both long lights getting to and from grant park and it seemed i missed every light in the loop. meh. but i was hurtin' good by the Shed and counting down blocks from Wells. i told myself i wouldn't care about my time on this run since it was just getting back in the swing of long runs after vaca, but at 3:10 i'm somewhat pleased. just 10 min behind where I want to be after 3 weeks off from step-up long runs. not bad.

the good news, though, is that the Eugene Marathon has water stops every 2 mi or so, so maybe it's time to do gel every 5 and drink every 2. with drinks every 2mi, i'm wondering whether i'll even need to carry a bottle for the race.

i'm very glad that i mixed a bottle of perpetuem before i left for the run. i should make a habit of that. best recovery drink ever.