One Mile at a Time

So the other day I had to do my long run of 5 miles. Now 5 miles may seem like nothing to a lot of you, but for me, right now, I knew five was going to be a challenge. Since my half marathon in October, my runs have averaged about 3 miles. But since I am now training for a half, it's time to start picking it up. All that to say, Saturday was my "long run" day and you can imagine my surprise and disappointment when I woke up to the ground covered in snow Saturday morning. I don't have yak traks, so the snow is kind of a deal breaker when it comes to running outside. Luckily, I do have a treadmill in my house but running more than three miles on a treadmill (at least for me) kind of sucks! Needless to say, I was not looking forward to this run, but it had to be done so I laced up and hit the mill!

Instead of dreading the miles that lay ahead, I decided I would just take it one mile at a time. I set myself mini milestone to reach and then set new ones throughout the run. I even managed to get in a little speed workout here and there as I would make myself run at an 8 for half a mile, then back down to a 6 for a mile, and so on. Also, I gave myself permission to turn the speed down if I felt I needed a short rest. One mile at a time. It's good to keep it fresh while running on a treadmill. Before I knew it, I was more than halfway done and that 5 miles I was nervous about was within reach. After the run, I was surprised I didn't feel as wiped out as I had anticipated.

I think this run gave me the confidence I needed to continue on with my half marathon training. I felt there was a hurdle to overcome and I wasn't quite sure what that was, but now I feel like if I can run five, then I can certainly run 6 and if I can run six...I will be working my way up to 13 in no time! Or at least in enough time to feel trained and ready for the Rock n Roll Half in May. Only 81 days to go!