A RUNNING MILESTONE

My post-C25K running goal has been to hold a ten minute pace for my three mile run, which is a challenge for me, but I didn't officially pace myself when Devon and I did the program and haven't been timing myself since coming back from a break at the start of September. I was really struggling in mid-September, thanks to taking a month off, and took the advice of several people to slow down and build my endurance back up again. I backtracked a bunch, including giving myself two breaks per run for two weeks, then one break for two weeks.  For the last week I've been running all three miles with Devon without a break, but not worrying about my speed.

I can't time myself during the week, which is actually good for me because I don't worry about how fast I'm going, so I decided to bust out the stopwatch this afternoon and give the run my best shot. I just wanted to see how close I could get to doing all three miles in thirty minutes. Here I am in my post-rainy run glory.

What? You can't read the stopwatch? Here, let me give you a close-up.

Bam!!

I realize hitting under a ten minute mile for three miles isn't a big accomplishment in the world of running, but it's huge in the world of Bethany. I'm so excited! Now I get to eat some Cold Stone when I cash in some gift cards to take Devon out for his "3 miles/30 minutes" ice cream. We both earned it!

My next goal is to hold that pace without feeling like I'm going to die for the last half mile or so. Then I'll figure out a new goal, either a faster pace or a longer distance. We'll see.