Running Fever

Last post a I talked a little bit about how I started running. Well, this weekend I completed the Susan G Komen Race for the Cure and I did waaay better than my initial goal! I trained for a little less than a month (after not running since high school), the first 2 1/2 weeks was slow going. But about halfway through my training things started to click and I went from running 15 minutes nonstop one day, to 30 minutes the next, to 54 minutes less than a week later! And I think I could have kept running that day, but I knew that if I didn't hit the hour mark that run, I'd be more motivated it to it again and run for a full hour. In the past week I think I ran about 14 miles total, which is something I NEVER thought I'd do. After all, I'm certainly no runner.

The race was good though. Fortunately it wasn't too hot or sunny out (which really helped), and I think running with 10,000 other people helped me push myself a little harder than I would have otherwise. My main goal going into the run was simply to not walk, and I knew I could do at least that much. I ended up finishing in 40 minutes 13 seconds, which isn't too shabby for a first attempt. I definitely exceeded my expectations, which made me proud of myself.

A few days before the race I got a little concerned that I wouldn't continue running with such motivation after the race, so I went ahead and signed myself up for another one. The next one is a 4 mile run in Ashburn (much closer to home) on June 27th. I'm taking today off, but starting back up on Wednesday. I think now that I know I can make it 4 miles without stopping I should probably start some speed training so my time is a little better. Before I do anything more though I need to get some new shoes. My ankles are killing me, and I think it's because my shoes are old and technically "walking" shoes.

Still trying to figure out a realistic goal for the Ashburn race. According to my results from Saturday I was running 12 min 50 sec miles, so 4 of those would put me at: 52 minutes. But since I'm trying to do better maybe I'll set my goal for under 50 minutes. Hopefully that's realistic, but at the same time still pushes me to do better. It only shaves about 1/2 minute of my mile time, but I'm also going to be running a little further, so I'll have to work on both speed and endurance. We'll see how I do.