6.5 miles and a smile!

So I went for what I thought was a 6 mile run today. I didn't have time to map it out on Google like I normally do when I go on a run, but I thought I knew a path that would be a 6 mile run. I kept a pretty good pace and walked only once toward the beginning when my shins were hurting pretty badly. After walking the one time I decided that I was tired of this business of walking when they hurt (even though they hurt pretty badly) and that I just wanted to run. So the next time they started hurting I started mentally talking to myself about the trees, birds, cars, etc. that I saw as I was running - stuff I would say to my girls like, oh it's a white car. Did you see that bird? After a few minutes the pain seemed to go away.

I ran the entire rest of the way and just kept telling myself what a good job I was doing and how amazing I was, and remembered how I couldn't do nearly as far 2 months ago. Toward the end I thought to myself, well, I must have underestimated my distance for this loop because I feel really good right now - so I added a little extra loop. When I finished I had a big smile on my face because I though I ran 6 miles with only one small stretch of walking for my silly shins!

When I got home, I had a nice big glass of gatorade and looked at google maps a minute ago to see exactly how far I ran, and discovered that I ran 6.5 miles!!! I have never in my entire life run 6.5 miles, nor could I ever have imagined that I would have been able to run 6.5 miles and end with a big smile on my face!! And it's funny because this weekend, Coach Keith ran with me during my last 1/2 mile and as we were talking he asked me if I was at the point that I loved running. I told him no, but agreed when he asked if I was at least at the point that running didn't suck. After thinking it over and after today's run, while I'm not at the point where I can honestly say that I love running, I am at the point where I can say I like it. I especially liked today running past one of the neighbor's houses to discover they have a moose sculpture wearing big sunglasses and a flower garland in its antlers, and around it's feet were sprinkled a bunch of those plastic easter eggs. It was amazingly not tacky at all, but completely adorable. Plus, it gave me a good laugh as I was approaching 4.75 miles.

My swim last night was a good one too... we did 4x50 sprints followed by a 600, a 2nd 600, 4x50 sprints and then a 100. So a little bit over a mile. I have to admit I love being one of the very first people done with the swim. It's nice to be better than most at atleast one of the sports, even if it is the one that is used for the shortest distance in the triathlon. : ) Now, I just need to teach the girls to swim. They keep asking if they can swim the triathlon too... Ladybug called it her my triatmylon yesterday. It was so cute!