WannaBe Runner

I so want to be a runner. Yes, I run seemingly a lot, but I'm still not what one would consider a "runner". Tuesday Glade and I ran the wash and I almost beat my 5k time but was short about 10 seconds. The fun part was that after I ran the three miles, I had a quarter mile to go to get my water bottle. So I ran to go get it. I ran comfortably at about 8:30 min/mile. So I decided to try some sprints outside. I always do them on the treadmill so I know exactly how fast I'm going. It's much harder outside! What made me so happy was that I ran almost a quarter mile at around 7:45 min/mile. Feels good to go faster. I just can't keep it up very long.

Today, Whitley texted me from school saying she had just ran a 9 min/mile. Stinker. She hasn't run for 6 weeks and probably only 20x ever. BTW, she is feeling much better and we think it's because she stopped drinking diet Coke. The aspartame was affecting her. We'll see if it keeps up. Anyway, I decided I needed to be faster than her. After all, I run a lot! So I started my run as usual and a few seconds into it, I decided to go as fast as I could for one mile. I had no idea how fast I was running, I just wanted to do what I could and see what happened. Now, it's hard to tell if you could have done more cuz you don't know how you are going to feel in half a mile. Anyway, I finished in 8:29!! I was so excited!! I was also very tired, but it felt so good. I walked for a minute to catch my breath than finished the 5k distance at 28:53, my fastest 5k. I was pretty tired but wanted to run the full 5 miles to keep my goals, but the rain started so that was my good excuse to cut it short.

I'm hoping by the Ragnar in February, I will be able to do a full 10k at 9 min/miles. Man I love the cooler weather, it seriously makes such a difference in my endurance. Not to mention, I run better in the afternoon. I really should get back on a bike since the triathlon is only two weeks away. I decided I'll never really be into tri's like Glade is. I only enjoy the running part. I guess it's all for the experience!