Today my goal was to run 4 miles at 12 minute mile pace.

I was really surprised and happy to see that my pace stayed consistent - 1st mile was 12 minutes, 2nd was 24, 3rd was 36 and 4th was 48.

I thought it was pretty hard - at 3.1 I really didn’t want to run any more, I felt that my heart rate was high, I felt tired, and my leg hurt. I didn’t have any excuse to stop, so I couldn’t. If I couldn’t run 4 miles today, then when would I? I was rested, and it shouldn’t have been that much of a straight from 3.1 to 4.

Of course I’d love to run a 10 minute pace marathon, and finish my half marathon in just 130 minutes. But I think my best strategy is to show myself that I can run, and my endurance can grow, and THEN increase the pace. If I can run 13 miles in 2 hours and 37 minutes, then how could I NOT believe that I could run it in 2 hours and 30 minutes? And then 2 hours and 15 minutes? 10 minute pace is 2 hours and 11 minutes. My best way to do it is to get my endurance up for this slower pace, and do one hard thing at a time - not endurance AND speed at the same time.

4 miles was hard for me - but I did it! By the end of June, I’d like to be able to run 6 miles nonstop, and that I can finish the 5k in 34-35 minutes.