Run-of-mine adj : 1: UNGRADED, UNSORTED, CRUDE, UNREFINED: not ground or treated 2: ORDINARY, MEDIOCRE, RUN-OF-THE-MILL <run-of-mine college graduate> 3. Ore or coal as it comes from the mine without grading or sorting for size or quality

4. That last run, the one that keeps you going back for more – it’s yours and yours alone.

Sunday, May 5, 2013

The decade - first 10 miler!

Well, I woke up yesterday and decided that I was going to run 10 miles, which is further than I have yet run.  As you may recall form a previous post, I'm training to run my first half marathon in June at the Minneapolis Marathon.  The training plan that I am <<loosely>> following says that I should be getting up to 10 miles for the weekend long run, so I thought, "Today's the day."  I decided to 'Cowboy Up' and get it done.

Remarkably, it wasn't that big of a deal.  I ended up averaging a 10:15 pace, which I'm pretty okay with, as this is my first run of this distance.  More important than the time at this point, I guess, is that I ran it all without stopping, except for one stoplight on 50th Street (twice).  So I suppose that technically I did stop twice, but I figure that's about the equivalent of walking through a water stop.  At least that's what I was telling myself when the lights changed...

I'm really lucky to live in the city of Minneapolis - it's an urban area for sure, but it's got an amazing system of parks and running/biking paths that are incredibly well-maintained and extensive.  You can see my route here - takes me along a nice quiet creek, past the school where I teach, and then around a lake.  Can't beat that for scenery.  The best part of the whole deal is that the creek is only 3 blocks form chez nous, so it's like 3 minutes and on on it.

Since I live in the neighborhood where I teach (I'm a first grade teacher), I saw several of my kids as I was running.  Six-year-olds (some of them) are still at the stage where they are a bit non-plussed to see their teacher outside of school, like I live at school or something.  It's pretty cute to see the looks on their faces when I run by and wave to them.

All in all, a good day running, and an even better day after - I wasn't really sore at all when I got up this morning to go to church.  I thought that I was going to be pretty creaky, but not the case.  I'm taking the day off today, and then getting back after it tomorrow before work.