Does it count if I stop for breakfast?

20.5 miles, 20 in 2:03:32 or so. It was about 22C and 94% humidity when I started but nice and cloudy. I figured I might as well try to keep to my supposed easy run pace of 9:28/mile. It actually felt fine. Compared to my last longish run, it was pleasant.

After a couple of hours, I met my husband at the farmers' market and ate breakfast, specifically raspberry lemonade and a beet/carrot/pear cold salad/coleslaw thingy which is an amazing mid-long run meal.

And then the sun came out!

The original plan was to run 22 miles, but 20 seemed more and more adequate. Chopping off two miles also sharpened the possibility of quickening the pace and ending even sooner.

9:26
9:36
9:23
9:23
9:14
9:25
9:31
9:20
9:00 (breakfast was anticipated more seriously)
9:18
9:13
9:07
8:46 (coasting to breakfast)
9:14
9:18
9:07
8:58 (figured I was halfway through the post-breakfast bit, not much left to run)
8:42
8:46 (auto-drive)
8:46
Then a slow short jog/walk/stretch home. It got up to 28C or so. Humidex 35C. Most of my runs recently have been in this range and it's beginning to feel normal.

I'm better acclimatized to summer this year and much of this is mental. I forgot to mention yesterday that, once I found my limit during my failed tempo run attempt, dropping back and jogging the rest of the way became very easy. The boundary is strangely emotional; I know this from getting heat exhaustion once. Discomfort becomes a sort of aerobic compression which becomes hysterical hyperventilation and then I get upset. But not an adult sort of upset, more of a toddler all-consuming level of upset. I start to cry, or nearly so! I wind up on the lip of a precipice and it's not worth not going down! Why am I even alive? It is unmistakable and distinct: the logical frontal cortex is ripped away to the amygdala: FEAR/RAGE/DESPAIR, those primal emotions that taught our species to avoid the pretty spotted mushrooms and the darkness and the creatures with fangs. My brain says, ok, you're not listening to reasonable excuses, so feel this! Why a bit too much of heat and exertion brings me to the bridge, I don't know, but it is a useful marker. If I'm feeling merely discomfort, I am fine. The last several miles of my run today were in that range. It would have been so nice to stop, but not necessary. I didn't feel the preliminary grip on my lungs; I could dismiss the negative thoughts until that point.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to run the marathon on Sept 3. I have until Aug 22 to register; that should be enough time to lose the slight abdominal pain that has crept up during the recent trips. It's impossible to avoid wheat completely when away in wheat-filled regions, but I fared better than expected. The trips are done and I'll be at home in my mostly GF kitchen, plus my husband and I will be doing a diet challenge until mid-September. We'll be eating extra healthy!