Weather - 32 degrees, cloudy, windy. I was planning to run short, but before I knew it I had already covered 7 or 8 miles, so I decided to challenge myself and go long. When I turned into the 15mph wind at mile 9 I had to slow down and it was a struggle to move forward. At mile 15 I reached the arboretum hill, and I stopped, thinking the run was over. I was tired, I had been running against the wind for 6 miles, and the last thing I wanted to do was run up the hill. But my mind became inspired, thinking - "I have run 15 miles to get to this point, which is really the start line of the long run. Do I really want to stop at the starting line?" I started running up the hill and so had my answer. The final 5 miles were on the South Farms/MBK loop, and it was not as pleasant as the first time around. I now had to battle my growing fatigue along with the elements, but I am happy to say I completed the run, and I feel it was one of my more gutsy training runs. I did the whole run without food or water, and since I did not bring any money along, could not even reward myself afterward with a Jimmy John's sandwich. The 2 mile walk home against the wind seemed more difficult than the preceeding 20 miles. I was tired and could not keep my eyes open, I wanted to lay down on someone's front lawn and fall asleep. I was happy when I arrived at my doorstep. #370 I made this print 2 days ago :  The Railyard, Autumn Study
Printed 2008
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