Saturday, April 14, 2012

6 Miles and 1 Pit Stop

So today felt like a big deal.  I just got back from an amazing 6 mile run and I haven't done that in a while!  I thought 6 miles wouldn't happen again until after pregnancy and if it did well...it would mean lots of walk breaks, bathroom breaks, and take forever.  I'm not sure why I thought this.  Maybe because I've never been pregnant so I'm just learning as I go.  All I know is that today was a sweet gift and I enjoyed every moment.

I needed to feed my sister's pets while she and her fam were out of town and she lives exactly 3 miles from me.  It is perfect really.  I always feel silly driving there when I know I can run.  Since it was Saturday, I decided it could be a long run and I could go as slow as I needed to get there.  I like destination running.

I headed out and the morning was still cool-ish although warming up fast.  I walked the first 2 minutes and then started to jog.  I made it all the way to her house without needing a pit stop and that, in itself, was a pretty big feat.  I usually need one by mile 1 but try to push to mile 2 before stopping.  I took care of the dog, the cat, the fish and the guinea pig, used the facilities and drank a few sips of cold water before I headed out again.  I ran all the way home.  It was SO EXCITING!  I told myself I could stop at the park that was halfway between our houses, but I didn't need to.

My goal was to see if I could do the run at sub 10 minute pace, but I was sure I wouldn't be able to, especially with my walking warm-up that is always part of mile 1.  WELL!  I was pleasantly wrong again!  Here are the splits.

Mile 1 - 10:37
Mile 2 - 9:38
Mile 3 - 9:19
Pit stop
Mile 4 - 10:06 (gotta get cranked up again)
Mile 5 - 9:42
Mile 6 - 9:13

Overall time was 58:39.  I was surprised, thrilled and sooooo grateful!  What a great run!  What a beautiful day!  And the smells were lovely too because everything was blooming along my route from honey suckle and jasmine to some white flowered plant I can't name.  I breathed it in, thankful for every comfortable step.

So, there is this upcoming 10k that I'm registered for because they canceled it last year.  It is May 5 and now I'm thinking it is doable and I'm excited about that too.  I refer to it as my pregnancy marathon (although women more pregnant than I am are out there running marathons too).  Being pregnant is such a blessing, and I had no idea there would be all these others to go along with it.

I wish you all a wonderful weekend filled with your greatest running experiences yet!

3 comments:

  1. Congrats on an awesome run!! Those days are SO encouraging! The 10k will be awesome. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you! It was SUCH a lovely, exciting surprise!!

    ReplyDelete