MAY 5

Total time: 35 mins

Distance: 2.86 mi

May 5 is always kind of a bummer of a day for me because it's the anniversary of the death of one of my really close friends. But we finally had a nice day (and the snow was gone!) and it seemed like the perfect tribute to her – she was one of the first runner friends that I had. This one was mostly for her, but, selfishly, a little for me, too.

In case you missed my first post, you will know that up until now, my longest run clocked in at 32 minutes. Not only did I smash that record, but this is also my first recorded run of 2 miles – and I smashed that one too. I hadn't really planned on breaking either of those today, but when I thought I wanted to stop and pulled out my phone to check Runkeeper, I was at 26 minutes and 1.91 miles – too close to quit, and I was feeling all right, so I decided to go for it. Unfortunately, in the process of putting the phone away, I managed to pause the stupid thing, though I didn't realize it until I was done. I never heard it announce the 2 mile mark, but by that point, I had decided to go for it and break the time goal. When I pulled out the phone again to gaze at my triumph, I was incredibly disappointed to see that it was still at 26 minutes. I mean, not that I need to have proof, because I knew that I had done it, but... I was still a disappointed. It's nice to see it in black and white, you know? Fortunately, my UP band came through in the clinch and had recorded the whole thing. Whew!

I was definitely toward the end, but sometimes, when you get so close to your goal, you just have to keep going. I think that's one of the things that I'm most proud of myself for – not giving up, for not letting myself quit when it gets too hard. I know statistics and records are kind of superficial, but that's what keeps me energized and keeps me going when I want to quit. I know they say not to wear a watch, not to look at it – but it doesn't discourage me, no. It pushes me. I can see how far I've come and I can push myself for smaller increments until I get to a point where I'm farther than I've been. Maybe that's weird, but hey, it works, so I'm going to keep running with it. (Pun totally intended.)