As I explained in the previous post, one of the things I had to address in my preparation for Boston Marathon on April 19, 2010, was to run longer “long” runs. Therefore, I wanted to run 18 miles as my 1st long run. The weather was as excellent as it was for skiing the day before. I ran slowly to Hempstead Lake Park, supplied with 2 water bottles and 2 gel pouches. I left all that stuff by the side of the path as I would stop there 3 times. During the third 5-mile loop I met Chris. The weather lured him out to run, too. We exchanged few words. He was on his way back to the car and I continued to finish my 3rd loop, totaling 15 miles in 7:16 pace. When I added the warm up and cool down miles, I ran total of 18 miles. The pace didn’t matter this time. Though next long run, I’ll try to keep it under 7 min.