20. Check.

I finished my the peak of my marathon training long runs this past Sunday morning. 20 miles. 20 long, grueling miles. I usually do my long runs with the Team World Vision training group, but had to change it up this weekend (for the longest run) because of the #Lawndale5K (which was awesome, btw).

My man and littlest kiddo at the Lawndale 5K - just before the Kids' Dash.

But my running buddy was true and great and we struggled along and finished together. Of course, I forgot to take pictures of the 20 miler effort. Blast. :(  But even though it was so much longer than I wanted it to be, I finished. And I finished strong. My feet were sore, my back hurt, my mind was numb - but I finished with a strong pace.

Some of my motivating thoughts while running: I thought about my kids and how proud they would be. At some point. You know - like when they're older... and I thought about my loved ones who have sponsored me. They see my effort and how much I care about this "clean water" thing and are willing to give their hard earned money to tell me "Go, AMANDA! I think you can totally do this!" And all those things motivated me to want to finish.

The marathon itself is only 15 days away now and it's looming closer. I can't believe all the hard training is done and I'm tapering now. I have two more "long" runs, and I find myself looking forward to them. I love running. I love clean water. And I love all my friends and family who have been so supportive this training season. THANK YOU!