I'm a One Hour Runner!

I am in awe of myself. I created a list of 101 Things to Do in 1001 Days. One of the items on that list is to Run for 1 hour without walking. I was going to start tackling the list at the beginning of the year, but I had the urge to run this morning and I did it!

I ran 4.5 miles in 1 hour @ 13:15 min/mile average pace without any walk breaks! I walked for 3 minutes at the 1 hour mark, and then I ran another 2.5 miles in 33 minutes @ 13:12 min/mile average pace without any walking!

That's a total of 7 miles of pure running bliss at an average pace under 13:30 min/mile, and I felt great! My knees were a little achy, but they are totally pain free now. The most I've ever run without walking was about 42 minutes and maybe 3 - 3.5 miles, so this is a huge accomplishment for me. I also did not think I'd be able to run it this fast (I know this is slow, but it is fast for me without walk breaks).

When I set out to run this morning, I just wanted to get in a few extra miles to make up for missed runs this week and cutting yesterday's run short. I figured running 1 hour straight without walking was a bit ambitious since I had already run 8 miles yesterday, but I was feeling good. I told myself I'd shoot for 45 or 50 minutes instead, but by then what's another 10-15 minutes? :) I started nice and slow, just under 14 min/mi, and tried to pick up the pace after 30 minutes to average at least 13:45 min/mi. Before I knew it, I was close to 13:30, so I had to try to reach that and I smashed it! I am amazed I had that much energy to push that hard at the end.

I probably could have kept running for more than 1 hour without walking, but I didn't want to press my luck. I still wanted to get in 7 miles, so I started running nice and easy for another 30 minutes after the 3MR. This was a much shorter run, and I was full of energy, so I was able to pick up the pace a tad more sooner. I'm sure I experienced the runner's high today, because I could have run forever. If my knees hadn't protested, I probably would have kept going :)

Now I'm rethinking some of the items on my list and may still tweak it a bit, but it's pretty close to final. So, what's on your 101 Things in 1001 Days list? :)

PS - I am a slacker and still need to post my race report for the OUC Half Marathon last Saturday 12/5 and yesterday's Reindeer Run 5K. In the meantime, you can read my mini reports on dailymile by clicking on the links in the previous sentence.