Up and down. Repeat.

7 miles. 5 hills.

There is something about hill climbs and there was certainly of a symmetry in this run.  Now that it is done, I feel ecstatic, proud and so glad I went out tonight.  But in it, well, that was a different story.

I went out planning on doing 7 miles.  After I did the first loop and it was exactly 1.4 miles, it worked out perfectly that 5 loops would get me to 7 on the nose.

The first loop I ditched my water and left it the trunk of the car and went out for a second loop.  In the second loop I was trying to convince myself to only do 4 miles.

In the third loop, I kept thinking, only 2 more left. You signed up for a hilly marathon, remember!

It wasn't really until the last loop that I was really, truly present in the run and realizing that I just spent the last hour waiting for these last 10 minutes!

I guess just like there are runs that make you realize how wonderful life is, there are also runs that remind you just how much of a climb life can be, and if you can be present, really, truly present, you can see how strong and how far you've come even if it takes 5 times of the same ups and downs to get there.

And there will always be water on the trunk of your car when you need a break.

Bikeless-biker update: No sightings yesterday or today.  But I have 2 bikes, a helmet and a U-lock ready to pass along!