Round and round and round and round

• Sat, Dec 12: 15 miles, more than 3 hours and a lot of drama

So we were definitely not thrilled to be in Prospect Park for this run. After all, it was 3 full loops of the park as well as 3 intermittent half-loops to get us up to 15 miles. (One full straight loop is 3.35 miles, so there's a double-back of about 1.7 that gets us to a 5 mile loop). This was a boring run. However, that was the point, as it was designed to help build our mental toughness. Heck, this whole running thing was a struggle from the start, so I didn't know if I needed a mental toughness test. But more importantly to me, it was a very COLD run. My fingers were hurting from the start, and after 1/4 mile, I didn't know if I was going to get to 2 miles, far less 15.

Anyhow, miserable as I was, I kinda did 10 miles. And for the first time, I walked too. Bad, bad, bad. I just stopped when I felt like it, and walked the last half mile before 10 miles because I had decided to go home. I had visions of my warm bed in my head. I wasn't interested in running for another hour, even if Nassar, Yasi and I were going to eat together after.

However, I didn't count on Robyn. Suffice to say, Captain Robyn was the boss of me this day, and I don't make that kind of statement lightly. She kinda forced me to get back out there, since I wasn't injured and, as I am training for a full marathon, really needed to get in the miles. She gave me her mittens, and told me to just run the 3 mile loop. But since I heard her saying to Coach Luis that she would try to convince me to do the last 2 miles when I came back, and I REALLY didn't want to hear anything, I just sucked it up and did the last 5 miles.

The reward? Strangely, the hills on this time around felt like nothing (for the first time ever). It was an odd feeling, but I endeavor to remember it every time I meet a hill. Plus, I got to hang out with Nassar and Yasi after all. So, good times in the end. :)