Somewhere along Mile 11, an excited stranger jogged up alongside me, announcing that this was the farthest he had ever run in his life and that we were almost finished. He asked if it was also my first half marathon. I awkwardly negotiated my response. “Yes,” I replied. “But…I also did LA Marathon…” “What??” he called back, a judging sting of disbelief in voice. “This should be easy for you!” “Yeah,” I said. “It should be. But it’s really not…”
