Yesterday’s not so great run was followed up by today’s speedy run.  I felt like I was on fire.  I ran around that reservoir like I was being chased by an armed bandit!  I did 3.4 miles in 32 minutes which for me is a fantastic time.

Time and running is such a personal thing.  Throughout my half marathon training I didn’t really set time goals.  However, I learned that I could comfortably maintain a 10 minute mile pace almost all of the time.  On shorter runs I often ran a little bit faster.  In the running world this is considered rather slow.  For me it is quite a feat to go from not running at all to being able to run an entire mile in 10 minutes.

By the half marathon I felt comfortable in setting a time goal.  I thought that finishing the half in 2:30 was reasonable and gave me some wiggle room to “take it easy” so to speak.  I wasn’t competing against anyone but myself.  I was extremely proud of myself for finishing in 2:21.

I have learned to love running.  I want to improve at it now.  I want to learn more about how running affects my body.  I also want to see what my body is capable of considering I never believed that it could run.  So I do note my time, most of the time.  Sometimes I just run for the sake of running, no time goal, no distance goal.  Sometimes I abandon a goal mid-run because I’m just not feeling it.

When I start a run like I did yesterday I was excited to monitor my time.  I really felt like I was flying for the entire run.  Everything was in sync.

Another important lesson I learned from half marathon training is that a bad run is not an indication of future runs.  It is an isolated moment and for me it is usually followed by an amazing run.  I learned that one bad run does not equal failure.  One bad run does not mean I should give up.  Sounds simple, but believe me in the past I would have not only quit the bad run I would have probably quit all together.

I’m so glad that I haven’t quit running.  It has become a part of my life.  I crave it when I can’t do it.  It fits into my schedule.  It gives me just enough