6 miles

Today I ran 6 miles faster than I ever.  I ran in 1 hour 2 minutes and 13 seconds.  That is an average of pace of 10:21.  This is a huge accomplishment for me. 

In April of 2005 I ran a 10K.  It was my first race ever.  I had hardly run since I graduated from college in May of 2004.  Granted I had been a college soccer player.  Hour long runs, followed by hour long bike ride were the norm.  Thus I figured I could handle the 10K, no problem. 

Boy, was I wrong.  I thought I had run the race in 1 hour 6 minutes or so.  However, I just looked it up and realized that my official time was 1 hour 29 minutes and 5 seconds.  (I think this is the gun time and we arrived at the race at least 10 minutes late and I got stopped by the walkers at the 10K start (looooong story), but still.  Even if I factor in all of that it still is closer to 1 hour 10 minutes.  Oops, I guess I blocked out reality.

That was almost 6 years ago, 3 kids, and 50 lbs. less and yet today, I crushed that time.  I also probably could have ran a little faster (I just didn't believe I could.)  It makes me wonder how fast I could go if I lost all of the baby weight, or even most of it. 

This run was just another reminder that I can run faster than I think I can.  My biggest fear when I am out running is that I will go out too hard (which I do) and not be able to sustain that pace over the distance of my race. 

I now know I can hold a 10:30 or better pace for at least 6 miles, definitely 7, and maybe even 8.  I now have to learn to train my mind to accept that fact, so I can train faster and know I won't die. 

In many ways my running is becoming more of a mental game than a physical one.  My brain needs to accept that I can do more than I think and just let me do it!  My husband, who is NOT a runner (but he is a numbers person), has even said that I can do it.  All of my recent runs are proving that to me. 

So come on brain, just do it!