Disappointment turned Achievement

Chilly but sunny 47 degrees; I ran in my 2010 Pittsburgh Half Marathon shirt and Adidas 3/4 length pants out 2.0 miles then back. On my street I met a guy throwing ball with his son; he is doing the full marathon and plans on running 10.0 miles tomorrow. He asked me how many I was doing today and then how many I was doing tomorrow. I answered: 4 and 0 respectively.

The run out 2.0 miles is mostly gradual uphill and I sure felt the incline the whole way, especially due to the strong wind pushing against my effort. On my way back I looked at my watch and saw 4:26pm and was like "How did that happen? It's taken me 30 minutes and I still have .75 miles left. Ah well I guess I was going extra slow today." And then I realized, "Wait a minute! I am doing 4 miles today not 3! I have until 4:36 to make it back to have gone at a 10:00 per mile pace!" And so rejuvenated by that fact I kept going, and when I got to the final stretch I actually ran up the hill rather than walking it with the goal to do the 4.0 miles in under 40 minutes. Where my street levels off I went down and back then down again to even out the mileage and to be assured to have run 4.0 since I had walked the nub of a hill at the start. And so I looked at my watch as I squeezed in the last .3 miles and finished at 4:33 - 3 minutes under 10:00 mile pace. Which means I averaged 9:15/mile pace.

I few times I had stopped and walked waiting for traffic to clear so I could cross a main road; this cost me a minute or two but I think the pause helped me recover and keep going as well as I did. I am excited that off the treadmill I seem to lose track of my pace, but in a good way - where I naturally, comfortably run under 10:00 minute miles. I am happy with this start because come the Half Marathon I want to be able to average 10:00 minute miles (at least for the first 6 miles; to match last year's achievement). 

Helpful pace calculator: http://www.arkansasrunner.com/calculators/minpermile.htm

New Miles: 4.0
Total Miles: 134.0
Miles Remaining: 1366.0
Weight: 140.6