i did it!

4 miles straight! running the whole time!!

if i am around at the end of september (ie not in beautiful baghdad), i may sign up for a local 10k - and run the whole damn thing!!!

honestly, it was nice and warm out (upper 90s today), but the sun had gone down a little and it wasn't as humid as it was last time we did the whole 4 mile loop (before the chicago 13.1), so it felt a little easier. and i sped it up on the last little bit and angie (my neighbor and running partner) and i talked on most of it (except the last part of the three biggest hills), which we couldn't do last time. thursday we are going to do that again, but this time, add in the extra little hills section (i think it is another 1/3 mile).

the neighborhood i live in is all hills, seriously almost nothing flat. that has actually turned out to be a good thing for me. i think running is a very mental sport. i can push myself to the top of a hill and then tell myself to let gravity do the work on the way down. if i make sure i take it easy on the way down, it really feels like a recovery and i can push myself up the next hill. we always walk 1/3 mile out of the neighborhood, then start our run and end with the 1/3 mile back to our houses. it is a great little loop. hopefully someday soon it can be a several times a week 5 mile loop - that is my life-style fitness goal (for running anyway).