Standing in the parking lot the thought “crazy” came to mind. It was a few minutes before sunrise on this Saturday morning and it was cold. It was cold and there was a breeze which made it even colder. Why are we running outside? Really?

I kept the whining to myself and began my long run with four women — Sue, Nicole, Bridget and Carol. Carol, the speedster of the group, took off quickly to get her miles in at her pace. Then the remaining four of us ran patiently around the hills of Chestnut Ridge Park. We all claimed we would be slow. None of us were.

My workout called for 10 to 12 miles at a comfortable pace. This is the easy long run, or the long, slow, distance run. Pace doesn’t matter on these runs — the miles do. And while I wore my snazzy Garmin, I did that more so that I could chart our miles and see the time to take my gels throughout the run. The sun rose during our run. The sky was blue.

It was a great morning to run. And it was great to run with women who made me smile, made me laugh and made me run strong.

It reminded me that we’re crazy strong, individually and collectively. And while the run was hard, it actually felt good.

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