Huge accomplishment

Something amazing happened today; I ran for 1.1 miles.  Straight.  As in, without stopping.  I'm pretty sure this is a record for me and I am thrilled!  Even when I was at the peak of my Couch to 5K training and running for 10 minutes at a time, I still wasn't running 1 mile stretches.  As I've eased back into running and started running on my own schedule, I've been running .25 to .5 mile stretches.

On our walk last night, I told Matt that I wanted to try to run a mile today.  He gently reminded me that, at most, I've been tackling .5 stretches and it's mostly downhill (I think this was a ploy on his part to push me to try harder, because he knows that if someone tells me I can't do something, I sure as hell am going to do it).  I replied that my long, downhill stretch is at the end of a series of gnarly uphills and that my legs are tired, so I was curious to see what my legs could do on a mostly flat stretch while my muscles were relatively fresh.  

So, today at lunch, I took the opportunity to go for a run outside and push myself a bit.  It was gorgeous outside, 79 degrees and sunny and I loved being able to run at the park near my office without feeling like I was going to melt.  I went to my normal (flat) path around the lake and took off.  I walked for the first .3 miles and then started to run.  It felt pretty good for the first bit and then I looked at my phone and it said .7 miles. I had only run .4 miles and my legs were starting to cramp.  I thought I wasn't going to make it much past .8 miles (or half a mile of running), but I kept going.  I kept telling myself I could do it.  

When I got to .8 miles, I thought "just make it to 1 mile" which would have been a running stretch of .7 miles. My friend the Nike+ lady told me "1 mile complete" and I knew I could keep going to 1.3 to get my 1 mile of running in.  I was on a stretch of gravel near the lake and I could see the pavement ahead, so I told myself to keep running until I reached the pavement.  When I reached the pavement, I looked at my phone and it said 1.4 miles.  I had run not .5 mile, not 1 mile, but 1.1 miles without stopping!  I certainly didn't set any world records with my pace (I was at about a 13:30 pace and I can usually walk a mile in 14:45 -15:10), but I did it!  It's not a long distance by any means, but for me it was huge!  I was the girl in P.E. who hated doing the mile run and really only ran when the P.E. teacher was paying attention.  Today's run was a huge accomplishment for me and a great boost to keep pushing myself and my body to the limit, because when I set my mind to it, I can do it!

Thanks, babe, for lighting the fire in me to push myself! 

"When someone tells you 'you can't.' Turn around and say 'watch me!'"