Was looking back on my iPod which keeps a history of my best records and discovered that in February, the fastest I had run a mile was 12:55. So I basically shaved almost a full minute and a half off in less than two months. The trick is to be able to keep that pace up for three miles. Tomorrow is another hard run. I think I will keep my hard runs to 2-2.5 miles and my easy runs to 3-3.5 for now. I am going to work on increasing the length of my easy runs to 4-5 miles over the next couple of months. I was going to do a 7 miler in June but I really don't think I will be ready for it, considering the most I run now is about 3.5 miles and I would have to build up to 7 miles in the next two months. It isn't totally impossible but I don't want to risk injury by pushing myself too hard (that's what happened with the nasty shin splints). They say you should only increase by 10% each week and it is a pretty hard and fast rule among runners. For me to be running a seven miler in June, I would have to increase my running by 1/2 mile every week. It doesn't sound like much but if I run 2-3 times a week, it is a lot.

Plus, I have been reading a lot about different ways of running, tempo runs and interval runs, etc. I love talking to people about running and I am so glad my sister and some of my friends are avid runners. Seriously, a year ago I NEVER would have thought I would tell people I was a runner. I would never have pictured myself running three 5ks and loving it. Running has helped me be more comfortable with my body because I realized it had this amazing capability to actually do this. It has definitely helped my self esteem and I definitely like my body more since I started running. I don't love my body but I'm getting there.