It has been about seven months since I started getting myself back in shape, started exercising and taking better care of myself. Seven months, 22 pounds, and 20.5 inches later, I find myself getting ready for my first 10K race, and even seriously contemplating a half marathon in April of next year. I'm pretty sure that I will go for it, however, I wanted to keep my goal for the 10K in mind without focusing on larger future goals until I had accomplished it.
My goal for the 10K is to be able to run it, without stopping. I know that doesn't sound like a big goal, the majority of people that sign up for these races run it without stopping. I however, had never run a day in my life until May of this year. After I started running, it was extremely short intervals with lots of walking in between. You may recall that for my 5 mile run in August, my goal was to simply
not have emergency personnel peel me off the pavement anywhere finish it.
Shortly after that run however, I got a swift kick in the butt by a good friend of mine, who talked me through the "I just can't seem to move ahead"
excuse phase. She encouraged me to make small goals for myself, which I did, and it proved to me that she was absolutely right, there was no reason that almost four months into running, I could not be going farther without stopping. By the time I reached two miles without stopping, I set up a plan for myself to get ready for the 10K race. Increase how far I was running without stopping by a half mile every week, which would get me to the six miles total by race day. Last week's goal was four and a half miles without stopping, but I got to five. I had never felt better after a run, and for the first time, the half marathon didn't seem so far fetched, but I am still not going to think about it until I get past the 10K. This week's goal was 5.5 miles, and I did 5.8. I'm actually excited for the 10K race!
