Better late than never!

4 months after I set out to run a 5 mile race, I finally conquered it!

I had intended to run the Washington DC St. Patricks Day 8K in March, but unfortunately, my body had other plans!

Well, now that I have things under control and I finally feel as though I am on a better track to success with my running! Since I have been back in Maine, I've slowly been upping my mileage. I have joined a friend of mines running group. I figured this will help keep me running, limit the amount of times I can keep putting off a run I know I need to accomplish! Even though they meet at 7am on Saturday mornings, I've been making an honest effort to wake up early and join them! I've been very proud of myself!

So last week, I decided to join a few ladies from the running group and run my very first 5 mile race. The weather looked good. I had been feeling good. It was time! I had two really good runs in the week, and had been able to keep my pace under 10 minutes/mile. Pretty good for me when I usually average about 10-11+/mile.

I made the mistake of telling my girlfriend that I'd love to run it in under 50 minutes. I started the race off slow, and increased my pace slowly. I was feeling great and avoiding the morning side stitches, but by mile 4, I was really starting to feel it in my quads and just overall tiredness, OK, I won't lie...I wanted to die.....but, my kick ass friend kept kicking my ass, doing a little yelling, and keeping me on track....without her help, there is no way I would have been able to achieve my goal of 5 miles in under 50 minutes! I finished with a 9:48min/mile pace! Yeah!

Do you know I have planned next!? I have officially signed up for my VERY FIRST half marathon! That's right! On September 30th, I will be running in the Maine Half Marathon!