I did it!

This morning I ran what may have been the hardest run I've ever done. This felt harder than the marathon. Granted, the marathon was 11 years ago, but this 7 miles on single track with extreme inclines and declines was really hard. The course fooled me too. I knew that at mile 5, there was one last 1/2 mile hill. I thought I had already gotten it and was flying down the "last" hill and then I saw, coming around the bend the biggest and steepest section yet. The hill and his friend gravity sucker punched me in the gut. The very last part of that hill was a section that everyone actually had to climb because it was so steep and muddy. I was so tired, I could hardly get myself to run downhill. As I started that uphill section, I saw my student's mother who really wanted her daughter to beat me. As I got to the crest, half a mile later, I heard her cheering for her daughter and I knew that she wouldn't catch me. I actually finished the race in 1 hour, 17 minutes. I never thought I'd be that close to my goal of 70 minutes. Maybe next year. It was a great finish though. My daughter came up to me with a paper medal she made a school and gave me a medal.