I've officially reached the end of my comfort zone...

This week was REALLY busy and the rest of the month is not looking like it will slow down. In the course of the week, I have managed to complete the longest week of training yet and possibly one of the hardest weeks of training since I started this whole running thing.

The week started out pretty strong with me getting out of bed at 5am on Monday to run my usual 3 miles-- EASY.  Tuesday held a before school meeting and a basketball game after school and a scheduled 7 miler-- couldn't fit in the run that day and planned for an after school run on Wednesday. I had a meeting for our Greece/Italy trip at 6:30 pm on Wednesday so I packed my running clothes and headed out to the greenway for my 7 miles in between the end of school and the meeting. It was hard and I didn't really enjoy myself much. On Thursday I rounded out the week with a 4 miler-- I had to stop midrun and stretch out my hamstrings --which annoys me. The light at the end of the tunnel was that Saturday was a step back on my long run and was only 10 miles AND I was going to get to run long with my friend Hope, who has a few marathons under her belt, and I knew a companion would help break the monotony of running long.

Yesterday, I got up early and stretched, ate a carb-tastic breakfast, and suited up for what I anticipated would be a much easier 10 miles than I had had in awhile. It was chilly, but not frigid by any means;
Mistake # 1--- thinking 10 miles could be easy after the whole week had sucked
Mistake # 2--- Wearing too many layers which resulted in fidgeting and stopping to remove gloves, and jacket
Mistake # 3--- Not being super diligent about stretching all week
The result was a HARD 10 miles-- even with a great companion---my mind going crazy the whole time. Here were a few of the thoughts that crossed my mind at some point:

• If 10 miles is this hard how the HELL am I going to complete an additional 16.2 miles.
• Ouch--- my butt hurts.
• Why can't I feel my feet?
• Maybe I need new shoes-- or socks---- or a miracle
• Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
• I wonder how gross I look with all this snot running down my face.

One of my friends from college, Cynthia, is  training for a half and is also keeping a blog to chronicle her journey.  Funny to think we both tried to run in college and did the Cowtown 5K together. We've both come a long way since then.  She posted today about her training week and based her blog around the the following quote,

"I'm not telling you it's going to be easy, I'm telling you its going to be worth it."

It was something I needed to hear.   I know how good I felt when I finished the first 13.1--- and then ran sub 9 minute miles for 2nd  13.1 a few weeks ago-- all things I was convinced I was incapable of doing not very long ago.  I venture into new territory this week with a new mantra to repeat -- "life begins at the end of your comfort zone".  On Saturday, I'm running 15 miles-- I'm nervous about the mileage but I am going to do something that I HAVE NEVER DONE BEFORE. I'll be living beyond my comfort zone---easy; no BUT exciting; ABSOLUTELY

One mile at a time.