I Survived!

Well I did it! I ran 20 miles yesterday. I'm so glad that its over but at the same time I am nervous--finishing this run means the marathon is coming fast--and there is NO turning back now!
I'm glad I called my playlist "Dirty 20" because I was pretty disgusting after running for 4 freaking hours. But it went okay...it was mostly, well...BORING. I'm so glad that I had 2 podcasts to listen to, they really do make the time fly by. The last 4 miles were the hardest--my left knee started to hurt at the end, which is weird because I usually never have knee pain so that freaked me out a little. (Okay it continues to freak me out.) But I am SOOOO glad its over and now I can "relax" a little and rest up during the next few weeks.
I think this run was a little less climactic than the 19 mile run. After running 19 miles I knew in my heart that I could definitely do 20. But I am a little worried that I didn't make my 20 mile run as much of a true "dress rehearsal" for the marathon as I should have.
Technically you are supposed to pretend like your 20 mile run IS the marathon--from your dinner the night before, to breakfast, to the shorts, socks, shirt you will wear to the ways you will fuel during the run.
I had everything down except for the fueling part--I've been so nervous to eat gels and drink Gatorade that I've tried to use them as little as possible. But it became TERRIFYINGLY obvious during this 20 miler that I need to fuel more. I ate 1 gel during the whole run. Huh. Just to give comparison---when Stacey ran the marathon a few years ago she had 4. Soooo yeah, I need to figure something out and just bit the bullet. Yes I may have to use the bathroom more, but its better than hitting the wall. Okay yes, the wall is inevitable, but I can at least do what I can to put it off or get through it.
So 20 miles DONE! Still quite a bit more to go but I am actually getting really EXCITED for CHICAGO!!!!!!!