18 miles - FAIL!

For the first time in the last two years I was unable to finish one of my long runs. And it wasn't just by a mile or two that I fell short... it was 7 miles. Last weekend I had to run 18 miles and I barely made it to 11. This is not good. Now, I was running at high altitude (over 6500 feet) which I am not used to so that needs to be taken into account. I also believe I was dehydrated and I started my run with too much food in my stomach (which always makes me feel a bit ill). All of these things conspired to make the run particularly difficult. But I'm worried that there's more to it than that. I simply haven't been as diligent in my training this time around as I was last year. I also haven't had the time to keep up with my weight lifting which, while isn't a part of the official training program, certainly helps cut down on the fatigue that I feel during the long runs. As the distance on my long runs has increased I've noticed that my lower back and abs get sore. My core muscles aren't as strong as they should be due to the lack of strength training.

What does this all mean? It means that I'm nervous about being able to finish this race. I started out this race season hoping to knock 10-15 minutes off my finish time. Now I'm just hoping to finish at all. I realize I have one more month to try to tweak things but that's not a whole lot of time. I have one more really long run - 20 miles - in a week and a half. After that I start tapering and there's not much left to do. I really don't want to be one of those casualties that I saw on the side of the road last year, limping along with pained expressions on their faces.