Breaking News…I went back and tallied up all of my training distances over the past two months and I’ve covered 57.5 miles to date!!!! That’s two marathons and change! Before this I'd gone two+ years without running 100 meters, I can’t believe I’ve made so much progress!

July 24th: Journey to the Ocean

I knew Saturday’s GTS was going to be a hard one, we were scheduled to run 8 miles from Prospect Park to Coney Island…I know, who does that!?! People who are training for marathons and I am now one of those people. Unlike my ill-fated 6 mile attempt two weeks ago I was prepared this time. I work up early and had a bagel and a big glass of water. Also because I had such a horrible reaction to the gel packs last time, I packed graham crackers to refuel this time around. I filled my water bottle and I was out the door!

Naturally it was hot as all hell outside. I have to tell you, training during the summer is rough and it doesn’t help that we have a heat wave every other week. It was one of those 97+ days but I refused to sit this run out because of the heat I was so determined to complete this. You’re already hip to my run / walk strategy, and that’s how I planned to do it 5 and 1. We did ¾ the outer loop (3.3 miles) of Prospect Park and then exited the park for Ocean Parkway. We ran Ocean Parkway straight out to Coney Island.

First of all, I am so amazed by how far I’ve come in my endurance. On one of my earlier post when I talked about doing the 3.3 loop at Prospect Park and that it felt like death. Well there's something to be said about knowing you have a long road ahead of you. I whipped (and whipped is a relative term) right around that loop and out of the park with plenty of energy to spare. When you're training you really don't feel like you're making progress because it's so hard and you keep increasing your mileage which is challenging. But when you go back and breeze through distances that seemed impossible in the beginning you realize that your growing as a runner. When I was done with the loop and left the park I thought to myself I might actually be able to pull this marathon off!

Well that all changed when we got on Ocean Parkway, the path down Ocean Parkway is shaded by trees so that was a relief but it was a straight 5 mile run out to the beach. The avenues that across Ocean Parkway are all letters of the alphabet (ave A, ave B, etc.). At first I didn't notice this until about Avenue K, then Avenue L. I stopped and thought wait a minute are we about to go through the whole damn alphabet!?! I immediately pulled out my phone and checked the GPS on the iMapMyRun app and sure enough we would be running all the way to Avenue Z before we hit the beach.

I was tired and feeling depleted for energy and so I started to tap into my mental strength. I just focused on getting to the beach. My running buddy Natasha was out of energy on all levels, she was cursing all the way up Ocean Parkway, it was actually pretty funny. Then I found myself coaching her on mental endurance. I told her to pretend we're running towards something we really wanted. Every time she said I complained I would say in a little while we'll be there and this will all be a distant memory. I basically was talking to her and keeping my mind right as well to get through the run...and it worked!

Soon enough I saw the Belt Parkway in the distance, and then signs for Coney Island, and in no time we were on the boardwalk!!! 8 miles, I couldn't believe it! When we got to the beach the team all went in the water. I wasn't too sure about that, let's be real this is still Brooklyn, who knows what's in that water. But I was so hot I threw caution to the wind and slowly made my way into the water. On my way in I thought man I hope there's no needles in here, then threw up a prayer and dunked my head. The water was as refreshing as NYC beach water can be.

What Did I Learn About Running That Day?

1) Sometimes retracing your training steps can revel your progress
2) Mental strength is everything
3) I'm kinda over running in 95+ weather. This will probably the first and last marathon I train for during the summer

Week 7: The Emotional Rollercoaster of Running

Thursday July 15th: Girl Get Your Mind Right

Let me start this post by saying I do not have PMS, this is genuinely how I felt about my training last week and please remember that I'm only human and have a breaking point like everyone else. On the off days from group training session (GTS) it's so hard to get motivated to run, especially after work. We've already established that I'm not a morning person so that leaves me to do my alone runs in the evenings. The problem with running at night is that you know the day is coming to a close and this is the one task that's standing between you and relaxation. However, morning, noon or night I've been struggling since I began this process with learning how to be present in my run. When I went on my yoga retreat in June, the instructor talked about different forms of meditation and he noted that running is a physical form of meditation. I thought oh that's why people go running to "clear their heads" or "burn off stress". I googled running as meditation and found and article from the May issue of runnersworld magazine called How To Meditate When Running (Or How I Learned To Love Running Without My iPod). The article briefly describes the goals and process of meditative running.:

Meditative running, is an extension of the basic meditation practice that is performed while sitting on a cushion, which teaches you to keep your mind focused on your breathing, or following each breath as it flows out of your lungs. When your mind becomes distracted by other thoughts, you acknowledge it and return your focus to your breath. "Through meditation we learn to relax and yet be keenly aware of our moment to-moment sensations, thoughts, and the world around us," Pratt says. "We set an intention to let go of daydreaming, fantasizing, and problem solving. By letting go of thoughts and coming back to our immediate physical experience, we find that our body so" ens and our mind feels lighter, more joyful."

After I read the article (particlularly this exert) I was positive that this would never be me. I generally have the same thought that repeats in my mind the whole time that I'm running: "just get this over with and then you can go (fill in the blank)". The blank could be go relax, go finish some work, go out, go hang out my friends, go get my hair and nails done, etc. The other repetitive thought is usually a "to do" list. For those that don't know me I thrive off of "to do" list, I feel so good when I can cross something off of my list. The point is I would like to find some mental balance that would make my running, well less miserable. The thoughts that currently go through my mind when I run are not getting the job done. Sometimes I try to give myself the "eye of the tiger" speech, but mental cheerleading only goes but so far. I'm running for a cause, which helps and is inspiring. I have all of you behind me, which helps and surprises me everyday that so many people believe in me. But I have to be honest, sometimes when I run I think to myself "I do not feel like doing this today." This is a darker side of my training that I'm just now revealing to you all. But I promised the good, the bad, and the ugly of this experience so there you have it.

Thursday night was just one of those days when I just didn't feel like doing it. BUT I got into my running gear at about 8pm, sat on my couch (fully dressed by the way) and weighed my options. After about two minutes of thinking it though, I walked out the door for my run. It wouldn't be a total loss, I had a new gadget my interval timer watch! This allows me to time my run and recovery strategy. The first interval I would run for 5 minutes and in the second interval I would recover for a minute, the alarms repeat which allow you to repeat the cycle. I ultimately would like to run 10 and 1(run / recovery) for the marathon, but need to build up to that.


I jogged about seven blocks to the beginning of the promenade at Remsen street, I jogged onto the promenade and immediately felt good about my decision to run that night. If you have not seen the views from the Brooklyn promenade put it on your "to do"list. I've lived in BK Heights for 81/2 months now and I still fall in love every time I see it. However, I quickly got over the view and became frustrated, everyone was out having a good time:date night, family night, friends hanging out and here I was trying to master a 5 and 1 strategy. I missed hanging out with my friends, seeing my family, and going on dates. Lately I felt like all I did was work and run. Then that popular thought popped in my head "just get this over with and you can...."


I stopped at the park under the Manhattan bridge (and took the above picture with my iPhone 4...oh yeah that's no postcard), I love sitting there and looking at the city behind the BK bridge, it's a good "thinking" spot. It dawned on me that training for this race was becoming like a second job and like anything new I had to find a way to balance it with the rest of my life. It's not just the time I spend running, it's the toll it takes on my body and my mind. I'm constantly tired, not sure what I should be eating half the time (although I'm getting better with that), and feeling torn between my social life, me running life and my work life. This process also makes you very competitive with yourself I constantly feel like I have to runner longer that I did the last time and when I don't I get really frustrated. Plus, for a non runner, do you know how much mental energy and will power it takes to psych yourself up and say "yes! we're running 7 miles today in 90+ degree weather on a Saturday morning I can't wait!"? As a matter of fact try it right now...exactly it doesn't even sound right. I kept thinking that there's has to be a better way! But there isn't it's just hard, that's why less than 2% of world population either have or will ever complete a marathon in their lifetime.


I got up dusted myself off and reset my watch. As I ran home I realized that I needed a break from this. Just like I can't not show up to work, I can't stop training and expect that I'll be able to complete this race. So I decided I needed some PTO from training (PTO is the code my company uses for vacation days)....I had a great time on my PTO Friday I went out to celebrate my friend Cheryl's birthday. I missed GTS on Saturday morning and didn't even entertain the idea of running on my own.Our GTS Saturday was a race in Central Park, you already know how I feel about CP so it didn't take much for me to ex that out of my schedule. I spent the better part of Sunday at a BBQ with my friends and definitely didn't think about running. I had a great time over the weekend and felt like a new person when I showed up for GTS on Tuesday. Like anything in life if you over do it you'll burn out, balancing training with other elements of my life is important because it keeps me sane when I get back out there. I seriously need to take a time out and get my mind right. I can't emphasize this enough the mental element of this is a hundred times harder that the physical, it takes a strong mental state not to quit. I have gained a new respect for athletes around the world not only for there's physical abilities but the mental endurance to compete at an elite level, because if your mind aint right your body won't fight!

What Did I Learn About Running That Day?

1) Despite all of my above complaining the interval watch is the bomb guys...the run/recovery strategy is where it's at for the novice runner!
2) Training breaks are good and totally acceptable (I asked my coaches and they approve). It's also better to take a break early on in the training versus right before the race
3) Building up your mental endurance is just as important as building your physical endurance



Tuesday July 20th: 400 Meters and a Twinkie

During Tuesday GTS we did another effort drill, 400 Meter repeats with 400 meter recovery. Basically we would run fast (somewhere between a jog and a sprint) for 400 meters and recover for 400 meters (FYI 400 meter is a quarter mile in case you were wondering). I have to tell you I underestimate the Tuesday training every time. When we did the effort drills the first time the distance we ran for the repeats was much shorter, so that's what I was mentally prepared for. BUT doing this for 400 meters was rough! I counted and we did 5 repeats so we covered a little over 2 miles.

I learned something new about myself on Tuesday, I have bad running form. One of the coaches pulled me to the side after a sprint and helped me work on my form. At first everything she was saying was a blur because I could barely breathe. But once I caught my breath I was able to correct my form. I tried to correct my form during my next sprint and it was super uncomfortable. Then my mentor Suzy gave me good advice she said "just point the 'girls' out when you run and you'll have perfect form" (oh and she has a British accent by the way which made her comment even funnier). I'll have to remember the boob thing when I run from now on.


As part of this process I have to raise $3.900 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. If you haven't already done so please click on the Team In Training icon on the right hand side of the screen and donate. Fundraising is not easy so my mentor thought it would be good to have all of her mentees get together and brainstorm about fundraising ideas. She owns a restaurant in Park Slope called the Chip Shop so we all headed over there after practice....Well the specialty of the Chip Shop is fried food. We had fried everything! Fried Mac & cheese, fish & chips, fried pizza and that was just dinner.Then for desert we had fried twix, fried snickers, and the best of them all fried twinkies! Needless to say we quickly replaced all the calories we burned during practice, but I didn't care it was fun getting to know my teammates and the fried twinkie was totally worth the calories!


What Did I Learn About Running That Day?


1) Sticking your boobs out while you run helps improve your form
2) 400 meters is a long way to sprint...this is why I did not run track in high school
3) Don't knock fried twinkie until you try them

Tune in next week to hear all about my run to Coney Island...Yay!!!! (That's sarcasim for those of you who don't speak my language)

Week 6 Update: Bridge, Bootcamp and PowerBar Gel

July 9th: bridge and tunnel...minus the tunnel


For those of you who know me less than a year ago I wouldn't even come to Brooklyn let alone live there. I was one of those New Yorkers who only left the island to go to the airport. Well I'm one to admit when I'm wrong and I was very short sided on this one, there's a lot of fun to be had in BK! For example if I didn't live in Brooklyn I probably would never wake up in the morning and decide to run across the Brooklyn Bridge and back as I did last Friday.

I had the day off, but of course being the Corporate blackberry addicted type A personality that I am, I spent a good portion of my morning answering emails. My best friend Joy and her daughter Addyson, my Goddaughter (that's Addyson and I at Coney Island), were visiting from Atlanta and would arrive at my apartment at 11am. The window of time for me to make this run was closing. But I figured it won't take me more than 20 minutes to run across the bridge and back (the approximate distance is 2 miles).

Finally around 9:45 I was out the door feeling good and ready for my scenic run. As I ran down Tillary street I realized that I was running in pass out weather, it was hot as ----- outside(those of you who know me know that this is one of my favorite phrases). Anyway I was keeping a good pace as I ran onto the bridge AND I had my trusty iPhone 4 to take pictures of my journey. I snapped a shot as I entered the bridge (eh hem look to the right please). Then I noticed something, I started feeling really tired like it was taking a lot of effort to put one foot in front of the other. I was even starting to lean forward a little bit. Then I thought wait a minute I know this feeling, I'm on a hill!

If you ever look at long shots of the Brooklyn Bridge you'll notice that there's a slight ark to it. Let me tell you what that translates into for a runner, one long hill. Do I need to reiterate how I feel about hills...ok if you insist, they are the devil! I manged to make it to the top of the bridge / hill and took a breather to take the next shot (eyes left people) with my highly sophisticated iPhone 4 :-) Ok that's the last time I'm going to mention my iPhone I promise! Real quick side note, did you know that there are vendors on the Brooklyn Bridge selling art and bottled water? Well you know now.

Anyway back to running, as I continued on my run I had a thought that messed me up, I've never really traveled over a bridge on foot. Don't ask me why but I stopped and looked down, I could see the water through the wood panels. All that was stopping me from plummeting to me death was a little piece of wood. Suffice to say this inspired me to run faster. Luckily running the remainder of the bridge was down hill and before I knew it I was back on the island!...well at least for a moment until I had to climb the hill back to BK.


What Did I learn About Running That Day

1) I guess I've been training long enough now that I can detect a slight incline by a change in my stride
2) If you're running over a bridge don't look down
3) I'll be traveling to Manhattan the old fashion way from now on, by subway or bus



July 10th: 6 Miles...Really?

So the game plan for our Saturday morning training was to do a 6 mile run from Prospect Park to the Promenade in BK Heights (that's my neighborhood!) and back to the park. So essentially we were going to run from the park to my apartment and back. Let me give you some perspective on how far that is, to get to training from my apartment I walk 10 minutes to the F train at Jay Street, take it 5 stops to 7th Avenue and then walk another three blocks to the Park. If this still isn't registering with you click this link to view the map of our route.

Once we got to the park, the coaches had a long talk with us about nutrition. What we should eat before our run, hydrating, and replenishing ourselves throughout our runs. Before our long run we're suppose to eat something carb heavy like a bagel with peanut butter. This is the first time we were running a long distance as a group. The general rule of running long distances is that you should drink 6-8 ounces of fluids every 20 minutes and take in 100 calories after 45-60 minutes and then 100 calories every 30 minutes. You're probably wondering how do we take in calories while we run. Well someone, who's probably rich now, developed these little packets of gel that basically supply you with the nutrients you need to keep running. Each pack contains just about 100 calories. PowerBar sponsors TNT (who knew!) and apparently supply a lot of free gel packs to us, so the coaches gave us some before our run.

For starters ask me what I ate before training, half a banana...didn't want to catch a cramp and all, real smart (that's called sarcasim folks). But I was hydrating all morning and was ready to go. One thing I'll say about this process is it makes you very competitive with yourself. You feel like you wnat to do better than you did on the last run. However, for some reason I seem to get nervous before a run and running in a group for 6 miles did not easy my anxiety. Luckily I found one of my team mates who had the same fears so we partnered up. I grabbed one of the gel packs and we were off.

Mistake number one: all that hydrating caught up to me, 10 minutes into the run I had to go to the bathroom, so did my running buddy so we took a detour looking for restaurants that would let us use the rest room....I know real classy. We continued on our run at what I thought was a great pace for beginners. It was so humid it felt like I was putting out so much effort to even run on level ground. So shortly before we hit the promenade (about 4 miles and and hour into our run) we decided to take the gel packs...it all went south from there.

Mistake number two: since all I had to eat that morning was half a banana I was essentially running on an empty stomach. Running on an empty stomach in extreme heat and eating a gel like substance for the first time under such conditions are all bad ideas. At first everything was fine, the gel didn't even taste so bad (I had strawberry banana flavor in case you were wondering). But about 15 minutes after I took it, I started to feel real bad. My body was not down with the gel packs at all, I felt terrible! We were just leaving BK Heights and moving into Cobble Hill, but I knew I was not going to make it. So instead of running back to the park I stopped and walked home.

My 6 mile run turned in to a 4.5 mile run. I think I made the right decision because it would have been the worst to get sick on some random street in Brooklyn. But I was disappointed in myself, I really wanted to complete my run. I feel like I gave up in a way, maybe I could have kept going. This is where the mind and body thing comes into play. My mind wanted me to keep going, I had the eye of the tiger, but my body just couldn't keep up. This was a good lesson on getting to know what I need to sustain myself through this training and the marathon. But don't worry I still have the eye of the tiger, I just need to eat a bigger breakfast next time!

What Did I Learn About Running That Day

1) Skipping breakfast isn't an option, and you can't worry about carbs when you eat a meal before you run
2) I have to try out different gel packs and sports drinks to see what agrees with me and what doesn't so I have the perfect combination for race day
3) I will always listen to my body, because it doesn't lie!



July 13: Bootcamp


This is pretty self explanatory. For our Tuesday night training, we had Jasmine Graham, a TNT certified coach and owner of Pace 4 Success, come in and do a bootcamp session with us. I already knew this was going to be a hard, so I mentally prepared myself for the pain...butI still came unprepared. Jasmine's workout is crazy. That is the heardest I've ever sweat in my life. BUT it was a great workout and I wouldn't mind doing it again. Just so you have an idea of how crazy the work out was check out the before and after pics below. The after pic is by far the worst picture I've ever taken in my life (the before one isn't so hot either) and I thought twice about posting it, but I'm committed to giving you all the inside track on my training.

What Did Learn About Running That Day...Not a damn thing I was too busy sweating!

Tune In Next Week Folks!

Week 4 & 5: Two Updates in One!

Sorry guys I got caught up in the holiday weekend...but I'm back! You'll hear limited complaints from me in this update (FYI limited is the key word here) because I've met so many inspirational people through my week 4 & 5 training events

June 27th: An Inspiring Run

We switched up our routine this weekend and instead of doing our usual training in the park on Saturday, we participated in the Achilles Hope & Possibility race in Central Park. Yes, no matter how hard I try to avoid that place I keep ending up there (urgh!). I didn't mind going to the park on Sunday because the Achilles race brings together athletes with disabilities and able-bodied athletes in a celebration of running. I'm a blessed with good health, the only thing I had to complain about on Sunday morning was getting up in time to make it to CP by 7:45. However, some of the people who participated in the race had no legs, did the race in wheelchairs or even walkers. It really helped put things into perspective and motivated me to give 120% to the race. But of course this is me we're talking about so you know I have a story to go along with the inspiration.

We've already established that I'm not a morning person so you can already guess that I woke up late, had to skip the train and take a cab to the park. For the New Yorkers reading this, have you ever been in a cab with a maniac cab driver and you were half way scared for your life and half way happy about their driving because you're running late? Well that was that was scene for me on Sunday morning. The man made it from Brooklyn Heights to Central Park West in 10 minutes! I made it to the park in one piece and met up with the rest of the TNT group. While I was excited about the race, I was slightly nervous. You've heard the tales of my 3 mile attempts and this was 5 miles!

We made our way to the starting line (or cattle corral as I like to call it) and soon enough I was off. In case you haven't noticed this pattern yet, the first mile is always cool, mile 2 it where it gets dicey, and by mile 3 I'm a complete disaster! But hey it's only week 4 of 17 so God willing I can only go up from here. The TNT coaches, were camped out along the race route. So of course as soon as I stopped to walk a group of coaches were there cheering me on. I'm not really a sappy person, but I must say it warmed my heart and made me push through.

The best portion of a race is know that more of the course is behind you than in front of you. When I hit the 3 mile mark it was great feeling to know I only had two more left. Those last two miles weren't easy, just when I felt like I couldn't take it anymore someone with a prosthetic leg would come by and I would feel terrible. Here I was with both of my legs and I was giving up. I was so inspired by the disabled participants. It was such a lesson in will to win. Talk about the eye of the tiger! Despite their physical obstacles these people had it in their minds that they would not only participate but finish the race.

This race was a turning point for me to understand that the mental aspect of running a marathon is just as important as the physical. Your mind can motivate your body, but it doesn't work the other way around.

What Did I Learn About Running That Day

1) If your mind aint in it your body won't win it!

2) Cheering isn't just for saps it motivates the Marlenas of the world as well

3) This could be premature but I think I'm starting to like this running thing

June 29th: No iPhone 4 and I Got My Butt Kicked In Training...What a Day

I'm going to move away from running for a second and just talk about my life on June 29th. Now let me start by saying that I am not a tech-savvy person, but every now and then I get caught up on the latest gadget, which is currently the iPhone 4. Luckily my best friend Joy is a techy and for the last year she has been keeping me abreast of the iPhone 4 release date. Yeah she told me to pre order the phone on the first day, of course I didn't, and by the second day the pre orders were over. So I decided no worries, I'll just go to the AT&T store on the 29th when it opens and pick one up....Terrible idea! I underestimated the tech community. I got to the AT&T store (which opened at 7)at 6:30am and the line was around the corner! I waited for an hour and a half and the line barely moved! So sadly I went to work without my iPhone which was such a disappointment.

Ok back to running, that day for training all the teams (Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens) came together for Connection day. We had cancer survivors come and speak to us about their journey to recovery and how LLS helped them. This did help me feel connected to the cause and better understand how the money I raise will help others (For more information on LLS or to donate to the cause please click on the icons to the right).

I don't know why I had it in my head that this would be a light training. I thought we would listen to everyones story, walk away inspired and go home...WRONG! After the speeches we went into a full on boot camp! First we did a "warm up" which could have passed for a full work out. Then we broke out by event (i.e. San Fran, NYC, Chicago, Hamptons, Dublin marathons) for three circuits: legs, abs & arms, and of course running. Let me set the scene, it was in a school court yard that had a slightl shawshank feel to it. You know how NYC schools are, gates over the windows and such.

Luckily my friend Nicaila , who's training for the half marathon with TNT Manhattan, was there with me so we got through it together. In the first circuit we did squats, various lunges, caf raises, and some other stuff that required us to jump around. Then after that (legs are feeling like jello at this point FYI) we ran. I'm not even going to discuss the run because my performance was pitiful. Finally we did the worst part abs and arms. Planks, side planks, side plank raises, push ups, crunches....I can keep going. When it was over Nicaila and I could

barely make it through the stretches. Long story short I left inspired and tired!

What Did I Learn About Running That Day?

1) Ab and arm exercises are the worst

2) Trying to run after do lower body strength training is simply a bad idea (I don't care what the coaches think)

3) I need to stop under estimating my Tuesday night trainings, they are just as hard as the Saturday long runs



July 6th: Finally got my iPhone 4!...but am I really about to train in 101 degree weather?

I spent the fourth of July weekend in the Hamptons with some of my friends and therefore missed my Saturday training. Nicaila was with me and everyday we said we were going to run and everyday we didn't...When the decision is between running and laying out at the beach 99.9% of the time I'm going to choose laying out at the beach.

Real quick let's take a break from running. I finally got my iPhone 4! This isn't just good news for me folks, this is good news for you. The video and camera is amazing, so my blog will be a lot more colorful in the coming weeks! Now back to running.

I got back to the city just in time for a terrible heat wave. On Tuesday the temperature reached 101! Running in the heat makes me nervous, I've actually dedicated a few posts on how much I loathe running in the heat. We received and email from our coach in the morning to drink water all day and a sports drink towards the end of the day. I still wasn't convinced so I texted one of my friends to ask if he thought I should go to training. He replied with an enthusiastic "yes". I thought surely he's been in air conditioning all day and isn't aware of how hot it is outside. But he told me to go and do what I could, so I thought alright I'll give it a shot...then I walked outside and discovered that this alleged friend had given me bad advice, I could barely breathe!

Once I got to the Park I had adjusted to the hot air. I just knew the coaches would take it easy on us in the heat...WRONG AGAIN! The focus of the work out was adjusting effort levels and understanding recovery. In lay mans terms we would sprint for the equivalent of a city block and then recover for the same distance. By the way part of this was up hill and you know how I feel about hills.

At first I was counting how many time we alternated between sprints and recovery, but we did so many that I lost count. I would say we repeated the cycle for about a solid 30 - 40 minutes. At first it was painful but then I got use to it and realized that this was actually a really good exercise. It helped me understand what it feels like when my body is maxed out and what it means to recover. I asked one of the coaches if it was ok that my chest hurt after the sprints. He said that breathing should be difficult after a sprint because you're really pushing yourself to the limit, but by the end of recovery your breathing should be normal (hence the term recovery). I must say I felt great after the work out and I'm happy I went despite the heat.

What Did I learn About Running That Day

1) Understanding your body's limits and properly recovering makes a huge difference in your run
2) I finally have the hang of properly hydrating
3) There's hope for me to conquer hills!