20 miles.

i ran 20 miles on saturday. yup, twenty. i imagined running from home town to my friend's hometown which is roughly twenty miles apart. that's insane.

there were a few weird things about this run. first, all twenty miles were ran in central park. that's unusual for long runs. second, i ran by myself. i haven't ran every single long mile by myself since i trained in 2005. it was a challenge, but at the same time, very enjoyable.

around mile 19, i was on the verge of tears because of the pain shooting through my left knee. it is not unusual for runners to experience knee pain. this pain wasn't different from any other pain i felt on my other long runs, but unlike other long runs, it was an obstacle that i had to mentally overcome. meaning this run was mentally challenging.

i started talking to myself starting at mile 16. underneath my breathe, i kept saying, "come on" or "you can do it." i did think about kavita, my honored teammate, and my mom. i also thought about all the donors and how they believed in me. it was refreshing to have a team of people to think about. my mind drifted back and forth to oct. 21, 2007, listening to the crowd cheer, seeing my family & friends, and crossing the finish line. i then thought about last year, october 21, 2006 and how i living at home, spending a weekend in vegas for SKP's bachelorette party. things have changed!

here are my stats:

first six miles (CP loop): 1:02
second six miles (CP loop): 1:03
first four miles (72-102 loop): 0:42
second four miles (72-102 loop): 0:50

total: 3:40

i came home, ate, and passed out.