12 mile run?? In the bag!

SO last week I did a few runs here and there and tried to stick to the training schedule best I could. Juggling my full time job, part time school (2 classes), family, and training... well... it's been interesting to say the least.

Since I finally have a GOOD pair of running shoes (Saucony Kinvara <3) I figured I could no longer make excuses to keep missing the Saturday group runs. I have only missed 2 out of 3 at this point and I told myself I had to go. I recently sent out a message (or call for help, if you will) to my fellow Team in Training teammates attempting to find a running buddy or someone else that was training for the Paris race so I could have a companion through all of this. I was able to connect with a super cute girl who is only a few years younger than me (I'm 26) and we have been emailing and texting for about a week or so now. We are both new runners and intimidated by the idea of running a marathon, so we immediately clicked and figured we could help each other build confidence throughout this whole ordeal.

Anyway. We meet up Saturday morning to head to the group run. 12 miles.... the longest of the long runs so far... and both of us were pretty freaked out by the thought of running that far/long. So we met up with the team, did our little chant (go team) and headed out! I had my Garmin with me but I was unable to get the GPS to sync (SO MAD ABOUT THAT) so the only thing I recorded was my heart rate, time, and calories burned.

Ugh.

I felt surprisingly good throughout the entire run. Me and my running mate (her name is Christeen) ran straight through to about mile 6 and began taking short (30 seconds or so) walking breaks every so often, just enough to keep us going. We were the last of the team to finish as they broke everyone up into distances according to whatever race they are training for, Paris having the longest distance, but I don't care. I feel amazing about how I did and how I felt and I'm actually mentally starting to feel like I can do this thing.

It's a great feeling...

12 miles!! Such a huge accomplishment for me. It is my longest run to date in my LIFE.

So I've decided to commit to Paris. That means I will be running 26.2 mile in 74 days....I've got a lot of work to do.


Here are the stats from my Garmin that actually were recorded:



You can see where we took the what we thought was a halfway break and then our tiny walking breaks there after. We walked the last mile as a cool down which was perfect.

I'm so excited I've decided on a race and I found a friend to explore Paris with! It will be so nice to cross the finish line with a friend... I know there will be many Team in Training people there, but I'm just glad that I'm getting to know someone now and can get to know them over the next few weeks before we leave the country together. Haha! It will be much better having an actual friend there rather than a bunch of acquaintances.

I'm also going to try to start getting pretty hardcore about my fundraising. Right now I have $2701 and I have another $300 or so promised to me. I figure I should have about $3100-$3200 by mid February. It's looking like I will meet my goal of $4900 by March 25th :) WOo hoo!!