Road to 10K: My First Saturday Run

So today I woke up knowing I had to do my first longer run of my 10k training program - the long runs increase every week to get me to my goal of 6.2 in 7 weeks. I've run 3.5 miles plenty of times before so I wasn't necessarily intimidated by the length, but I certainly didn't know how well I would do. I try to never put pressure on myself to run fast or finish within a certain time. My goal is always to never stop running not matter how slow that might be and just finish the intended distance. Today was an exceptionally beautiful day which helped. The sun was shining and there was a bit of a breeze which is always beneficial on a long run day. But I will say, I was extremely tired and wasn't sure I would finish with a smile on my face. My kids were sick this week and I was certainly fighting off something - a possible stomach bug virus going around - but I didn't want that to discourage me from getting out there and taking that time for myself.

I got all geared up - yes, I bought myself a new running jacket for "motivation" - put on my headphones and started my run, loving every minute of it! I haven't been outside to run in months..it felt so good! Not only did I complete my 3.5 miles with a 9:00 mi pace..but I exceeded that doing 3.75 miles sprinting at the end. Who knew??! I really was proud of myself. I wanted to keep going, but having a time constraint at home and knowing I wanted to stick as close to the training program as possible, I stopped (with a smile on my face). The sense of accomplishment was enough for me.

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Bring on tomorrow!