8 MILE RUN!!!

I just finished my NEW official longest run ever... 8 MILES!  It's amazing how your body can just keep going and going and the impact that your mind can have.  I've been listening to a group called Dispatch,  an American indie/roots folk jam band, while I run.  Music plays a big part in my life and helps me to get through the run with a little less pain.  I've always found my life to be one big musical.  I'm not sure what I'd name it though.  I just always have a song in my head and my emotions are so easily changed by the tunes.  With tonight's run, I kept repeating over and over Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me."  So true... So true!

Here's a snapshot of the runkeeper I use with my iPhone to track my run.  Again, not the fastest time, but baby-steps!  =)

This Is Too Cool!

As I train for my first mini-marathon, I've been trying to keep track of my miles and times along the way.  I have this app on my iPhone call RunKeeper; it uses GPS to track my fitness and then saves it on their site.  When I log in to see the stats for a run, this is what I see.  It's fun cause I can drag the mouse along the bottom graph and watch the little blue dot move on the map to show where I was at that speed and elevation.

The past two weeks I've been running 5 miles on my "long" runs, which ties the furthest I've ever ran consecutively.  Sadly, it was when I was in middle school running a Popcorn Panic up in Valparaiso where I grew up.  Well, today I shattered that record with a whopping 6.2 miles!  (Baby steps... Baby steps...)  My goal was just to finish the 6 miles and I had a great game plan.  I ran the first half as far away from my home so that way I had no choice but to finish the 6 miles on the way back.  The best thing about it was that I felt that I could have ran another 2-4 miles.  I figured I better be safe and just achieve my goal (which I actually exceeded by .20 miles, thank you very much!!!)  =)  

My training schedule has me running 7 & 8 miles in the next few weeks, so I look forward to scoring some new personal highs.  Hopefully I make it back to post about it!  =)

40 X 40 - 2 Down 38 To Go!!!

A handful of months ago, I posted about a goal I made to compete in 40 races by the time I turn 40.  Fortunately, I still have just under 7 years to complete it.  This past weekend, I came one step closer!!!  Crazy me signed up for the mini-marathon, here in Indy, for my first time.  I've heard it's a little bit further than my previous longest race of 5 miles in 7th grade!  To be prepared, I also signed up for a training team (I even caught myself training for the training).

This past weekend was race #2, a 5K that is part of the training series.  As you can tell by my time below, I still have a ways to go.  Baby steps!  Baby steps!

P.S.  If you're that walker that passed me... vengeance will be mine!  (If I can catch you!)