Marathon update

I ran ~13 miles (a half marathon!) with Ezer today in Central Park. Goal D4 is accomplished.

We ran about 1.2 miles to the park, and then two big loops of 6.2 miles each. The hardest part of the run was about 7.4 miles into it, just as we were beginning the second big loop. A number of factors converged to make this stretch remarkably painful, primarily in a respiratory sort of way:

• Psychologically, I realized I was only at a half-way point and still had a large loop left to run.
• This stretch is one of the steepest uphill parts of the loop in Central Park.
• I had a little remaining upper airway congestion from the week before.
• Being half-way, I decided to eat the high-carb chocolate gel packet Ezer had given me, making breathing very difficult.

The end of the run, however, was marked by a sense of exhilaration that comes naturally after a run (endorphins?) as well as being happy to have run farther than ever before.