18 miles

I went running this morning. 18 miles. Holy crap! And I still have 8.2 miles to go. I drove my route last night to make sure it would be 18 miles. I didn't want to short myself. It was a depressing drive, seeing how far I would have to go. Two more long runs before this marathon. I started early. I had seen lots of lightning in the southeast skies. I figured I would get rained on. But I had my phone with me, in case I had to have someone come rescue me. I was actually secretly hoping for a down pour because I really didn't think I would be able to make this 18 mile trip. It would have been a good excuse if I had been soaked and there was a threat of being hit by lightning. But to no avail. I had to go forward with my run. I got sprinkled on, but no hard rain. The first few miles were kind of tough for me. I guess I just didn't have my run on this morning. Or it was because I knew I had another 15 miles to go and didn't know how I was going to finish it. But once you're out, you can't really turn back. I got to about mile 14 and my legs didn't want to work anymore. My hips hurt, my feet hurt, my body was thinking I was crazy. I ended up walking quite a bit, but I did finish. I ran out of water around mile 13-14. There are no gas stations or anything like that in the last 4-5 miles of my route. So, I couldn't stop in and get some water. Needless to say, I was walking the last few miles. And also, I was hurting. I'm sure I will feel it more tomorrow. I hope I'll be able to walk. Next long run is 20 miles! Holy shiz.
And can I just give some driving etiquette for running weather:
-Runners usually run against traffic (so we can see the cars coming). If you are driving and coming out of a side street, please look both ways so you don't run us over. We'd appreciate it. We see you, but can't always tell if you see us.
-Asphalt is softer than cement. If there is a sidewalk, but enough room on the shoulder, we will most likely run on the shoulder. It's easier on the joints.
-If you see a runner waiting for a light and you want to turn, please wait for the runner. It's not fun when you cut us off because you are in too much of a hurry to wait a few seconds.
-Share the road! If there isn't traffic coming in the other direction, move over a little. It's scary enough to have cars come at you, but when you move closer to us, that's even worse. Especially on a narrow road. Watch the windy roads too! We try to be careful, but cutting the corner short, you may hit us.
-It's nice weather, there will be lots of runners out (at any given time of the day), please be aware of us! We will not win in a battle against a car.
Thanks for listening and please be aware! Bikers, runners, walkers, share the road!