Early this morning, Eddie and I took our place behind orange road cones and waited for the words, “Runners take your marks, get set…GO!” We attended the 5k at Llewellyn Park in West Orange, NJ, a gorgeous, historical gated residential community and former home of Thomas Edison. I went with little motivation, expecting nothing more than a leisurely jog through the beautiful, autumn scenery. But no sooner than the first corner, I discovered this would be more difficult than anticipated. Almost immediately, the route took us to a near 45-degree hill that stretched for at least half a mile, something I was not prepared for. It was then that I had to decide to either tackle it and give it my all, or simply run with little effort, as originally intended. I decided to go for it. After the first hill, I reasoned there would be more, and began mentally preparing for them. They could come at any second, just around the next turn. Hills have a way of either crushing a runner’s spirit, or prop