Alison and I ran 12 miles for our long run this past weekend… this coming weekend we will have a 15 mile run… since I am in uncharted marathon territory I have been following a training program she printed for me… we have combined the beginner training with the intermediate recommendations… I want to adhere to it as much as possible because I don’t want to injure myself by overtraining….

I took a rest day Sunday and then Matt ran four miles with me Monday… today called for 7 miles with hills… the day before a tough run I start to visualize success and how I will feel when I have finished the task… when I woke up at 6:15 this morning with the dog… I was in the middle of running my 7 mile hill loop in a dream…  I made sure my Nano was charged… I had a good breakfast and then did some things around the house while my food settled… then put on some of my favorite running gear (also essential for tough runs) and started my 7 mile trek… took a left at the end of the driveway… a left at the end of the road and the first slight incline begins…. There is a monster hill in this loop but I felt so good coming up the first time… that on my way out of the neighborhood I ran it a second time…

About 4 miles into the run even the smaller hills felt more challenging… I would say softly to my self - “run it out” - then when I got to the top of the hill if you were standing right next to me you would have heard a low mumble “recover” as I would slow my pace a little bit… the reason for running hills is to build strength and endurance… and for me the same holds true in life…

There have been times in my life when I have felt like I had a mountain right in front of me that I would never be able to conquer… missing loved ones when they have to be gone… watching a loved one slowly fade away…  break-ups… having to make the decision to let my little dog Sable go to the big “dog yard” in the sky…juggling college and 3 part time jobs… I am sure there are several others that I have possibly blocked out…. but after each one of these physically and mentally challenging moments… I felt better equipped to handle a stressful situation in the future….

When my grandmother was so sick with Alzheimer’s I had to keep telling myself that God’s timing is perfect… even though I sometimes don’t understand the things that happen to us or the people around us…. but for every hill we must climb the trip down the other side is always easier…

Perhaps the tough times we experience are to teach us patience… or to help us to cling to the truly important things in life like relationships and kind actions as opposed to material wealth or worth… I am not sure but take comfort in knowing there is a higher power in control…

If you are in the middle of a big hill in your life… I hope that you get to the top soon… so that you may enjoy the downhill recovery on the other side.