Outside Run=Success

Yesterday I did my first outdoor one on pavement, up and down hills, gravel roadsides and road kill! I had decided the night before that I was going to do a 4.2 mile loop on the roads surrounding my house. I didn't feel much up to it but I did it anyway because I had committed myself to it. No excuses, right? I was tired when I started my run which didn't start until 2 in the afternoon. It was also 85 degrees and humid. Not ideal running weather (conditions or time of day) for my first outdoor run but I was up and running.

At first I was very distracted. I realized that when I run on my treadmill, I have no concept of time. I run in the same place, looking at the same thing. When I was running outside, I was well away of how far I had run and how much longer I had to keep running to get back home. The end of one block just meant I had another whole long block to run. The run seemed to last forever. Plus the last mile leading to my home was pretty much all uphill. I had to break up some of this run with a minute of walking followed by a minute of running. When it was over, I felt great and VERY thirsty. Chris met me outside with a huge glass of ice water. After several glasses, I realized that I had just accomplished what I set out to do and it felt great. I can only get better from here. Only about 18 more days until my first 5K race (I ran one 15 years ago but I don't count that since it was so long ago). I hope I am up for it. I am going to keep running outside every other day, if possible. Tomorrow I plan on trying to go just 2 miles but pushing Maddie in a jogging stroller. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and I will be up and running.