Progress: What a Difference a Year Makes

Today I ran 10 miles with the F'N Runners. I wasn't planning on doing 10.

This morning's group. I'm on the far right. In the front in gray is Jeni, and in yellow is Don.
And a bunch of non-bloggers. At least, not that I'm aware of. 

Some of us did eight miles (four out-and-back), and by the time we got back to our cars, almost everyone else had already finished or were good doing eight, but a couple were going to do another mile out-and-back for a total of 10. I was feeling good, so I figured, why not? My total time was 1:33 (I stopped my watch for a couple short breaks.) It was the first time I ran double digits in one day since my last half marathon on October 1. (I've been sticking to 7-8 miles for my long runs almost every weekend since.)

Last May, I ran the Soldier Field 10 mile race. I trained for it and busted my butt to a 1:48 finish. Today wasn't quite slow enough to be considered a truly "easy" pace (according to my heart rate) but it certainly wasn't race pace.

On Thursday night, I ran six miles with the F'N Runners. It was our first time meeting on a Thursday night. I wasn't sure what to expect.

Thursday night. A bunch of non-bloggers and Kelly is second from the right and Amanda is on the far right.
Actually Gen (in the blue) has a blog but I don't know if it's "public." She can comment with the link if it is :)

I ran with a couple friends, and our pace was 8:33. It definitely felt like a tempo for me (comfortably hard), but considering last June my 5K PR pace was 8:30, and I busted my butt for that one too (and it was the week after the Soldier Field 10 that I trained for), I was pretty proud of Thursday's run.

It's amazing what you can accomplish with some consistency.

DailyMile

I am SO EXCITED for my spring half marathons and seeing how far I've come in two years. (My first half was in May 2010 and my time was 2:48.)

And do you know how accomplished I feel to be done with 10 miles, showered, and ready for the rest of my day by 11am? (Keep in mind I drive 20 minutes each way for these group runs.) I've certainly changed in the past 10 years year. Before hooking up with my running club, if it wasn't race day, I very rarely got up early to run. And even then "early" was 8am. Yet another mark of progress!

Also last night I did some core work (class at the gym) and then "cross training" at Room To Move, my sis-in-law's studio: Hoop Dance Party Party.

She brought her own fans

It was hard to get good pictures in low light with everyone moving. Anyway, it's part of their $5 Fridays series, the third Friday is Hoop Dance Party Party. Basically come and do your thing. Fourth Friday is a Tribal Belly Dance workshop.

Don't forget! Every $5 you donate to the American Cancer Society = 1 entry in my "favorite things" raffle, including Sparkly Soul headbands, Bondi Bands, Clif Shot Bloks, Honey Stinger Waffles, Body Glide and a custom race t-shirt quilt. Learn more.