Mile 15

This is starting to get hard. I'm uncomfortable, I'm tired. My feet hurt, I'm hungry, I'm tired of the scenery, it's difficult to move, I get irritated easily.

Sort of sounds like mile 15 in a marathon. Or, perhaps it's just week 31, or the beginning of the 8th month.

I was elated when I reached 30 weeks. It just sounds like you're almost done. So much better than say, week 28. I'm in the 30s now man. I'm experienced. But then I came back to reality and realized I still have about 10 weeks to go. 10 weeks is a long time. 10 weeks ago was 20 weeks. And that was a long time ago. Like May 20! A lot has happened since then, and I still have that to do again before I get this baby out of me? Help!

This feeling one that I feel at about mile 15 when running a marathon. Which, by the way, I would do any day over this! At mile 15, the halfway mark is 15 minutes back, and it's the beginning of no-man's land. It's like far along but not really. There's still 11 miles to go. But the feet are really starting to hurt and things are starting to get a little boring. It's the point in the Chicago Marathon where I have crack all three times I've run that race. The scenery is starting to get a little sad. No more buildings and the crowds have diminished by more than half. The excitement of starting, having a smooth stride, and feeling all great are no longer. It's starting to get pretty hard. I want to be done.

That's like week 31. It's hard. Every day, like every step during the race, gets more difficult. When does no-man's land end? Mile 22? 23? Oh boy. That's still like 6 weeks away. A long time. I think I'll go soak my feet.