9, 5, and 3 Mile Runs and Breaking the 8 min. Wall!

My Spring Break has been great!  I've had lunch with my sister, dinner with some girlfriends, a night with my best friend and her new baby, cleaned out our guest room, and have done some yard work!  I'm only saying that to make myself feel better after seeing everyone's warm weather beach pictures.  It is going to be 65 degrees this weekend though!  Woohoo!

Alright, so along with those other things, I've gotten a few more runs in this week for my Mini Marathon training.  A fellow blogger asked when my race is, so I thought it's be fitting to post today!  My race is exactly one month from today on May 4th!

So about my runs this week.  On Saturday I decided to do my long run for the week, which is up to 9 miles.  Depending on my schedule, I'll either do my long run on Saturday or Sunday, but with Easter on Sunday, I figured I'd get it out of the way.  I'll have to admit that I was kind of nervous about 9 miles.  Yes, I ran a marathon, but that was a year and a half ago, and my goal for this race is to increase my pace.  We have a wonderful running path near our house that goes for miles, so I ran 4.6 out and 4.6 back (yes, I know that's more than 9, but I'll explain why later).  The best moments for me while running where the two times I passed a group of 6 runners.  I'm always motivated by those around me and Saturday was no different.  A dad was running with 5 other kids probably around the ages of 9-12. I was inspired not only by the kids, but by the dad who was helping these kids live a healthy lifestyle and be active.  I hope I see them again on Saturday...they were truly incredible!

My husband has been home with me during Spring Break so on Tuesday, he decided to ride his bike alongside as I ran 5 miles.  We don't typically workout together, so it was really fun to have this time.  I caught myself with a huge smile while looking over at him a couple of times.  We both had headphones on and were rockin' out to our own music, but there was something about doing it together.  I usually run by myself, so it was a great change of pace (and I ran faster than usual!)!  It was also great to have to take off layers as I ran because the weather was a bit warmer!  The hubs even carried it for me on the way back.  Many perks to working out together!

Yesterday, my training schedule said to do a 3 mile run.  Since this is the shortest distance, I wanted to make sure my speed was increased, but I've had a huge block when it comes to running faster than an 8:00/mile.  The hubs agreed to ride alongside, and push me a bit so that I could get over the hump.  I always have this fear that I won't be able to make it to the end, so if I hold back and finish strong, then I'll know I can do it.  I don't know if it was just knowing that the hubs believed in me to go faster, having him there to push me faster, or both, but it worked!  I averaged a 7:48 min/mile!! Now, I know it was just 3 miles, and my half marathon will be 13.1, but just knowing I can do it will help my mindset as I approach longer distances.

Well, I gotta run!  10 miles is coming up this weekend!