The hay is in the barn for the Gasparilla Ultra Challenge

Today was not a good run. It was brisk and very windy, and the wind pierced all my clothes. But I didn't want to do 16.5 on the treadmill.

I got sprinkled on for the first few miles. I had to pee almost immediately, and since it's February it took almost 6 miles for me to find an open restroom. The trail was covered with water, mud and ice, and much of it ended up in my shoes or on my tights. I could feel blisters forming on one of my toes from rubbing against my wet sock. My hamstring and tailbone were killing me. And for good measure, it snowed on me at the very end.

BUT, I also had a lot of good things happen: My bad knee felt fine. My endurance was fine. My pace was decent. The new gels I tried worked fine. I saw some ducks and geese. No creepy guys were waiting for me in the parking lot.

And, this was the last LONG long double run weekend before Gasparilla. The hay is in the barn and I'm officially tapering.

Considering I got in only four weeks ago, I'm pretty pleased with what I've been able to accomplish. I added a mile or two on to each of my weekend runs to build up to 11/16.5 this weekend. I got lucky with good weather and got to do all 27.5 miles — the most I've run in two days, ever — outside:

Some nice long runs on the weekends for the past four weeks.

It was a tough run but I got it done. It's a good harbinger for race day: It might not be pretty, but I'm confident I can run, walk or crawl across those finish lines.