First Long Run

I have to start by saying that I am really proud of myself. I started running at the beginning of the year (casually with my dog at the dog park) but knew that I wanted to run a half marathon this summer. To help me with that I decided to start a training plan. Last week was my first official week and it was a mix of 2 to 3 mile runs three days a week. Those weren't too bad for me (although I am still throwing a little walking into the mix) but yesterday was my first "long distance run" (which for this newbie was 5 miles). I decided to do this on the treadmill which is something I have really been trying to stay away from but I live in Alaska and 5 miles on the snowy trails is what I imagine 5 miles in the sand to be like. Not
pleasant for my first long distance run (sorry to knock any beach runners). So, I got on the treadmill and started with my 10 minute warm up and moved on to the first mile. It did not feel great. By 1.5 I decided that I would just run two miles and call it a day. When I hit 2 I decided that at this pace (13.5 min/mile on the 'mill) I wasn't too far from 3 so I should just finish there. By three I was so close to 4 I couldn't bring myself to stop. And, of course, at 4 there was no way I was going to stop with just 1 mile to go. And there is was - my first long distance run of 5 miles. I really couldn't believe it. I started that run thinking I would barely make it to 2 and finished ALL 5! I stopped about every 5 minutes for a 60 second break but I did it...I finished it and felt pretty good afterwards. For the first time I really felt like a runner. I didn't stop even when I wanted to and my recovery afterwards was amazingly quick. I really couldn't believe it and was so proud of myself. I know, after that, that I will never miss a run (unless something major comes up) and that I will never give up.

It feels great to be a runner :-)!!!