I’m into the big miles of marathon training now.

A week ago Friday, I’d planned to run 18 miles down there in Destin — but I knew the weather might not cooperate.  You see, I’m totally not a hot-weather guy.  I was therefore encouraged when we had rain and fairly cool temperatures most of the week.

But the day of my big run dawned clear and hot — and still beastly humid.  And I was still suffering from a summer cold (which I’m just finally getting over).  It all added up to a Stygian day of slowness and suffering — lots of walking and just generally getting roasted under that hellish sun.  I managed to cover 16 miles, though it took me a full 3 hours.

Today was a 20 miler.  It wasn’t a Floridian day here in the upper Midwest — but it wasn’t a nice crisp summer day either.  Warm and humid to start turned into hot and humid by the end.  But I managed to run nearly the whole distance over a very hilly course — and finished it in just about the same time it took me to do 16 miles down South.

I’ve got five weeks and just one more really long run a couple weeks out.  I’m feeling pretty good about it all.  (It’s funny how what used to be long runs to me before I started all this marathon madness are now quick little intensity training sessions.)