I did my first practice 5k today in 40:00! I was so frustrated that I couldn't find a time on Mon or Tuesday to run, so today I hired a babysitter. My splits were: 1 - 12:53 2 - 13:06 3 - 12:47 last .1 - 1:14 with an average pace of 12:54. This was actually better than I expected. My previous runs were averaging in the 15:00 range so I was worried it would take me over 45 minutes. The extra .3 in my total miles were for warm up and cool down. It was a very different run for me since it's the longest I've gone so far. Usually I just listen to my heart and lungs and when they seem overly labored, I start walking. But with this run, something internal kept saying, "Ugh. What are you doing!" after I passed my normal 1.85 normal distance. I feel good now and am very happy that I was able to do my first 5k without dying. I also found it interesting that I ran differently when I was on the sidewalk then when I was on the trail - knowing that other people were watching me made me less aware of my running. | 