for almost six years i've been showing up for a group run around the bridges every wednesday night. give or take a week or two or a year. when i first started i was happy just to finish. next goal was to run the entire thing with no breaks. i'd run 5.5 before but these bridges are a challenge. add the florida summer sunshine and well, sometimes i was sure my face would explode. i averaged 55 minutes.
the past two weeks i've run it in 46 minutes. relatively speaking...that is FAST!
i say relative because the majority of the runners in this group average 6 minute miles. but me? running 5 miles each in just over 8 minutes...well that is a victory.
now, i don't expect every run to be a victory. there have been strings of months of poor runs or lack of runs. some days you set a personal best, others you set personal worst. there are days when just lacing up is a victory.
but right now. right now, running feels so good. it's a good outlet. it's good exercise. it's a good challenge. faster or not, it is just so good.
and when you hear those 6 minute milers calling you fast? well, that's just icing on the cake.
(speaking of cake, i think i earned another slice. going faster burns more calories, right?)
