Twelve years ago my friend Harry asked me to go on a 10-mile run with him. It was going to be his last long run before the Austin Half Marathon. Harry was competing in the Austin Distance Challenge, had the lead in his age division, and wanted to keep his lead. He wanted me to go on his last long run with him so I could keep him on pace.

But the thing was, I’d never run 10 miles. My daily runs were 5 and 6 miles, and I’d eek out a 7- or 8-miler on the weekend. I hadn’t dipped my toes into double-digit mileage. Hadn’t even considered it. There was no reason for me to do so. But Harry asked me to run 10 miles with him like it was no big deal. And Harry very much knew my weekly volume, which was far from anything big or noteworthy. So, I accepted, like it was no big deal.

But it WAS a big deal. I hung up the phone with Harry and told Elise, “He wants me to run 10 miles with him on Thursday evening.” I think that phone call was on Monday or Tuesday. I had no idea how the hell I was going to prepare or be able to run 10 miles in just a few short days. I was stressed. I was a nervous wreck in the days leading up to the big 10-miler.

Harry showed up to the house on time that Thursday evening. And before I knew it or had time to sheepishly make excuses to Harry in case I couldn’t make it 10 miles, we were jogging down my street, set out on our 10 miler. I guess we were doing this thing.

I don’t remember what all we talked about, but we talked. A lot. That helped make put the miles behind us. Harry’s a personal trainer, so I sought his wisdom after we’d hit mile 7 or 8. I asked him what I should do after this epic haul. I’d already told him that Elise had a frozen chicken fettuccini Alfredo in the oven, so my big meal was planned. He said an ice bath could help with any inflamation. I don’t think I even had any inflamation, but when we were done with our 10 mile run I assumed I was going to be inflamed as all get-out, so I emptied the freezer of all its ice, put it into the tub, filled it with cold water, and plunked my naked self into the bathtub. I was so miserably uncomfortable. It was horrible. But I figured had to somehow recover from this huge mileage endeavor. Elise still laughs about that ice bath.

Twelve-plus years later and this is just what I do on a Tuesday before a full day.