Still no snow on the ground in Chicago in the middle of December I figured why not try to recapture an FKT for my last long of a training block. The first half was into the wind and I was ready to quit after the first 2 or 3 miles but like any long distance runner learns, just keep clicking off the miles, get to the turnaround and see how you feel.
I was carrying my own two water bottles and GU but when I went to grab my fuel around mile 7 I discovered that I must have dropped it from my pack when I was digging around in there and was already starting to feel some pains from starting early in the morning with no fuel and going 7 miles with nothing. Luckily, when I made the turn, and came back around I found my fuel... in the middle of the path. I loaded up on GU and water and was able to get back into clicking the miles away. The weather was a nice low 40 degrees and was able to put together a solid long run to recapture the out and back FKT.
I know some of my Lake County, IL fellow runners can take this one back again but I had a fun run pushing the pace a bit and taking the FKT back!