Day 349 -- Lake McConaughy State Recreation Area

Lake McConaughy State Recreation Area contains Lake McConaughy, Nebraska's largest reservoir. 35,700 surface acres is a lot of lake.

I ran my second twenty miler today. It was much harder than the first. I don't know why. Perhaps I worked harder this last week. Perhaps it was because I didn't get much sleep last night. Or perhaps it was just because it was cooler and windier than two weeks ago. But last time, I finished the twenty feeling pretty good, and confident that 26.2 is in my range. Today, I was totally drained, and I felt like I'd better stick to the half marathon. In fact, the first 13 miles went OK, but the last seven I made on sheer stubbornness. I knew that if I quit, my friend Peach would tease me mercilessly.

The worst part was...well, there were several worst parts. Take your pick. The worst part was

• trying to start again after the last couple of water breaks. As long as I kept running, I was OK, but when I stopped, my legs figured that was it, and it was time to quit, now.
  
• running up the long hill on West Main Street. That's never my favorite hill in the world, but today I hit it in the 19th mile, and it was my own personal Heartbreak Hill.
  
• coming home and trying to pretend that I'm not that sore. Mrs. Jogger already thinks I'm crazy, and if I act too tired after a long run, I think that she'll have me committed. Anyway, I'm trying to convince her that I'm healthy enough to run a marathon, and whining about a 20 mile run is not the way to do it.
  

Anyway, if you'd like to see my route, it's on Gmaps Pedometer. It's a little tangled, but it's all there.