Just To See If I Could

So last night I figured I would head out for a run. The weather was nice and after yet another sick week housebound I was more than ready to get out of the house. I told my husband to watch the boys and that I would try to keep my run to an hour although I thought I'd probably be back in about a half hour.

I have just sorted out a route around my area that is about 5.6k. It is kind of an annoying route though as it is a lot of doubling back on yourself but I was really in desperate need of a 5k route at my doorstep and for now I know this would have to do. So last night I headed out with a mind to complete that route. After I had done the 5.6k I realised that I could carry on running, I actually felt good. I knew a little add on area which would make another 4k so I told myself to carry on to that route and just see how far I could go. No shame in stopping if I had to.

When I got home an hour and 4 minutes later I had completed 9.75k!!! Yay me!

This might be a bit silly, but I have this ridiculous claim to fame, well, something I always boast about- 'I ran a 10k once in under an hour!' But I'll tell you a little secret...that was when I was 17, still in high school and training about 3 hours a day for field hockey. I haven't run one since.

After having been running with the mums running club for awhile now and knowing I could easily run a 5k (much easier with other mums to run with though) I am thinking of setting a new goal. 10k here I come!

For the record, I felt really stiff this morning and one of my ankles is a bit tender so I probably was a little over-ambitious with my run yesterday. I think I should have tried a 7k but after a nice sweaty spin class this morning I am feeling more like my old self.

I can now say that I am looking forward to the day when I am able to run a 10k without feeling like I might need to be in a wheel chair the next day ;-)

Are you a 10k+ runner? How did you break into the longer distance runs?