First 16 Miler and a Waterspout

The point of only running 16 miles for your longest run on the Brooks Hanson training plan is to simulate the LAST 16 miles of the marathon.  This is possible, since you theoretically have been pounding lots o'  miles over consecutive days.  By the time you do your long run, your legs are sufficiently fatigued to fairly accurately simulate what the last 16 miles of the marathon will feel like.   However, I took the last 3 days off, so is the simulation accurate?

Miles 14, 15 and 16 splits (unknown territory up until now):  7:05, 6:52, 7:02.

16 miles @ 7:08

Analysis:  The last 3 miles were faster than average and mile 15 was actually my marathon goal pace.  Half glass full:  The five toughest training weeks are ahead before the 1 week taper.  Half glass empty: Need to keep the shin issue under control.  Icing my right shin at the moment.

By the way, I think I saw a waterspout on Lake Michigan today.  It looked like a tornado, just much much more stationary.  It was just south of the City, over the lake and then I read this in the Chicago Tribune when I got home:
Forecast: Thunderstorms, hail, waterspouts
"Shortly after 11 a.m., numerous reports of waterspouts were received as showers and thunderstorms moved across the North Shore waters, officials said. Mariners were cautioned to avoid these storms."

Since I my run was from 9:45 to 11:45, it is likely that the thing I saw was a waterspout!

Total mileage for the week 48.8.