My first post

Hey all! Well I've been running much further than I had been previously so I figured I might as well join the gang. Prior to finishing the now legendary "Born to Run" I had considered myself more of a middle distance runner with my standard workout being 2.5 miles in about 18:30-19:15 depending on different variables. A couple of weeks ago I decided I was going to skip my goal of 2.5 miles in the 17 minute range and go ahead and run three miles with my workouts. However, the day I had planned on 3 miles I ran 3.75 (the park trail where I run is 1.25 and marked in 0.25 increments). The next day I ran 5, then had to work all weekend.

So, I started this weekend with a little bit of a fire in my belly and really wanted to do another 5 mile run by today when I had to go back to work. Monday and Tuesday I ran 3.75 miles and judging by the playlist on my ipod (not timing my exact pace yet, I have distance work to do first) I ran pretty much the same pace both days. My shins and calf muscles were killing me afterwards and I was wondering if I could make 5 miles when I started out Wednesday.

Well, it was lightly raining when I went to run Wednesday and I decided what the hey? A little sprinkle never killed anybody. By 2.5 miles it was your typical Oklahoma rain storm and I was soaked! At 5 miles I felt great and was as wet as I could possibly be so I figured lets keep going. At 7.5 miles my left earbud in my ipod was crackling so I threw it in the car and finished the last 2.5 miles of my first 10 mile run with the rain letting up and the birds chirping. It was great! I felt 10 times better after my long run than I did on either of the previous two! Hopefully I can keep up the pace and run a half marathon this fall. Anyways, sorry to take up so much space! I've just been eager to share my exploits.