So on Friday I ran the fastest mile of my life, about 12:55 minutes. I usually walk the first tenth and then start running so it can be a little tough to figure out exactly how fast I am going. When I first started running, I was at about 3.5mph, then a couple of weeks ago, I kicked myself up to 4.2 and yesterday I was at 5mph, which I am so excited about. Granted, I only sustained it for about ten minutes but still that is seriously awesome considering I am usually at about 13:30 minutes. My goal is to run a 5k in March in 36 minutes or less which is about 11.61 minutes per mile, so on the treadmill I am going to shoot for 5.5mph. I have short legs so running against taller people is daunting because my steps are smaller than theirs and they have to take less steps to go as far as I do. That being said, I know I have the endurance now I am training my body for speed. The weightlifting is really working too because I squatted 70 pounds yesterday and did 110 pounds in calf lifts so my legs are getting very strong.

There are pros and cons to running on the treadmill. First, I know exactly how fast and how far I am running. That makes it nice because I can pace myself and compare to the prior week. I can control the speed and incline. The cons are that it doesn't throw wind resistance or the elements or surprise hills at me. Plus, it is much easier to stop on the treadmill. I can do 1.5 miles and say I'm done but if I run 1.5 miles from home I still have to run or walk the 1.5 miles back.

So I am hoping that by late February/early March it will be warm enough for me to start running outside again. This way, I can run the route for the next 5k, or at least get outside and see if my outdoors time is comparable to my treadmill time.

Also, I am down another pound. FINALLY. Also down 1/2 in my waist and 1/2 inch in my thighs. Terribly exciting. However, since I am way to addicted to my scale, I put it on the shelf in my closet where it is hard to reach. I am going to try and go two weeks without weighing myself because I am much too focused on the number instead of the fact that I am getting smaller. This picture really put it into perspective for me. Fat takes up so much more room on your body than muscle.