tenth circle of hell

Finally, let me tell you about my grueling 10-miler. Every runner I've talked to has a story about some epic run they've had. I now have my own.

The number 10 alone was a huge psychological hurdle for me. The most I had ever run was nine miles, which was a one-time fluke that happened one summer on a treadmill in an air-conditioned basement when I had nothing better to do than run off some negative energy.

Psychological hurdle #2: This was my first run with hills. Ever.

To top it all off, I was moving into a new apartment the same weekend the run was scheduled. The night before the run, my boxes were moved, and my furniture wasn't. Translation: I slept on the floor of my new bedroom, and as you can imagine, I was consequently not very well-rested for 10 miles with hills.

We traveled to Grafton, Mass. for our hilly experience. It was snowing (also my first run with precipitation, incidentally!) and sticking--we often had to run just one runner abreast because the cleared path in the road only provided room enough for one set of feet.

This was intense. It was an out-and-back run, and we started running the second mile or so downhill. That was good news... except that it meant we would be running the second to last mile uphill. Good practice for Heartbreak Hill, certainly, but hard work.

This brings me back (yet again) to how essential it's been for me to run with teammates. For this epic event, I ran along with Jess, a more experienced runner than me (no, that doesn't take much, but still.) =)

Had Jess not been jogging next to me, I know for an absolute fact that I would've ended that run by walking the last mile. Thanks to the motivation provided simply by her presence--and by the competitive streak developed by years of Dr. Mario games with my father--I somehow continued through the snow and slush to run the entire 10 miles. It wasn't fast running, but it was continual.

Epic, I tell you.

The 11- and 12-milers we've completed since (both without hills or precipitation, both on dry ground, and both after restful nights of sleep) were both somehow easy compared to Grafton. I guess that's one awesome thing about overcoming ridiculously difficult personal challenges--I now think to myself, "After 10-miles in those conditions, this will be nothing!"