“It feels like we’ve been running for more than two weeks.”

It’s what my non-runner, half marathon buddy Emily said at some point in the middle of our long run. I run with her and our running friend, Haley, (and occasionally Haley’s roommate) every Sunday for our weekly long run.

I couldn’t have agreed more with Emily. I started running more diligently a week or two before we signed up for the race and officially began training, but still, it feels like so much longer. We’re only just starting week three, and already it feels like it’s been a month, at the very least.

That’s not necessarily a bad thing, either. We set out to run 5.5 miles, and ended up running 6. There were some challenges (mental as well as physical hills) but by the end of the run I was actually feeling really good! I even sprinted in the last .05 miles.

Sprinting the last little bit is a habit learned from track, and I continue to do it because it proves to me that no matter how tired I am, I still have energy. “Sprint” is a pretty loose term here: usually it’s just a slightly longer stride and faster pace. But after this Sunday’s run, I felt so good that my sprint was a real, honest-to-goodness sprint. It’s probably the fastest I’ve run since high school track, actually…