6 miles at 5 am with Ashley and Tim. Weather=75F, 60% humidity, 10mph wind, dark. mile 1- 9:44 pace by myself on way to meet them at the corner. mile 2- 9:01 pace felt ok mile 3- 8:22 oh boy. Ashley and Tim have been running 18 milers on weekends and are in so much better shape than me. I'm hanging on for dear life, here. mile 4- 8:15 ok. I'm just going to imagine this is a race. headphones in. mile 5- 8:25 uphill, but actually, starting to feel like I'm getting into a rhythm with this pace. Ash made me sprint the final steep uphill. At the top of the hill I had to walk for a bit to catch my breath. Ashley and Tim went on to run two more miles. I told them I was really proud of them but I'm going home. mile 6- 9:30 chugged it home. Whew! Meeting them tomorrow same time. I'm so happy to have friends that push me. Today I got my confidence back... For the first time since I started running again I felt like my old self if only briefly in mile 5. If I keep upping the milage, I'll be back in top form in 2-3 months. | 