This time last year, I ran my first ever 10K at the Cohasset Road Race by the Sea with a good friend of mine.  We plowed through it and finished in 1:22:45.  Anna and I managed to run the first four miles without stopping.  We may have walked .25 miles of the 6.25.  This year, although I am still waiting on the official time, I finished in 1:06:57.  Almost 16 minutes better than last year.

I’m not sure when it happened.  Probably when I started running with friends who are much faster than me, who talk while we run which makes it feel much less like a grueling workout.  And today I found myself facing a new challenge.  Justin registered me for my first marathon.  Memorial Day in Burlington, Vermont.   I started training partway through the program – an eight-mile run tonight.  

It was pretty terrible for the first mile, my body still angry with me for the race on Sunday and medication I’ve had to take for my jaw this week.  And then, you know what happened?  It wasn’t so bad.  I took my time and did the whole thing.  Yes, I walked.  It took me a little over an hour and a half.  I’m not sure how I’ll be feeling on Saturday after a 16-mile run.  But it is time all on my own without anyone to watch, clean up, or run after.