The long run

Today is the long run day on my plan.  On the agenda: 5 miles.  For me it is still in the long run category.  This morning as I was eating breakfast I looked up twitter to follow the NYC marathon.  I was in complete admiration of these people running that race, all 43 000 of them.  But the leaders are Gods to me! Their pace is so fast, I could not run 1 single mile at the pace they run a full marathon! I waited to see the time of the winners in the men and women races! Their time for the Full marathon is faster then what I think will be my time for the half marathon!  I head out for my run thinking about these super humans....
I felt really good, no pain, no huffing, the wind in the face for the second half did not bother me too much and I barely felt the mini hills along the way.  I used the Galloway method: run 4 minutes, walk 1 minute.  It works!  I was less tired after those 5.25 miles then I was last week after my 5k race! I know I still had plenty in the tank, I feel good about next week's 10k.
Running outside is so much easier then running on the treadmill!  Lance Armstrong's voice came faster in my ears then it does when I run at the gym..everything was better.  Today's run gave me hope for the future long runs that are ahead of me and they will only get longer and longer and longer as the weeks leading to the half marathon pass.  Today I think I can do this! For real! Not that I have a choice...I paid, I signed up, I am doing this, no turning back!


In one week from today at this hour, I will have ran my first 10k race.