Before last night, I had never run more than 16 minutes without stopping.
A big fan of the walking break, I often run intervals of 10-15 minutes of running, with 1-2 minutes of walking recovery during my training runs.
To date, I’ve crossed the finish line of eleven races, 7 of which were 5Ks. I’ve never once ran a 5K without stopping and I’ve always secretly envied my friends when they reached the fitness milestone of running an entire 3.1 miles without stopping.
Last night, everything changed.
Before I left the office, I set an email out to my Challenge buddies, instructing them not to let me skip any of my training runs in the next 10 days before my 10K [sponsored by It All Changes.] The sky was grey and cloudy, the temperature 45 degrees, and as I entered my apartment to change into my running gear, rain drops started to sprinkle onto my head.
I shut up the small voice inside of me that was trying to tell me that I didn’t need to run in the rain. “It’s 3 Miles,” the motivational part of me responded. “I can finish it in 35 minutes and be done with it.”
Instead of marking out my 3 mile route or heading to do a triple of my 1 mile loop, I decided just to run for 35ish minutes. I set my stop watch on go, pressed play on a podcast, and took off in the direction of a part of the neighborhood I haven’t run in since last fall.
I ran at a decent pace; not causing me to lose my breath, but I also wouldn’t be able to hold a conversation if I tried. When I glanced down at my watch and saw it had passed 12 minutes, I realized I wasn’t really tired yet, the way I normally am this deep into my run.
"I’m going to push to 20 minutes NO STOPPING." When I hit 20 minutes, I thought, "I should see if I can make it to 24 minutes, because that’s probably about 2 miles."
The next time I glanced at my watch I had passed 27 minutes. HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?? I was BEAMING as I thought, "I am SO CLOSE to 30 minutes – I can totally reach it." So I kept running.
At the time, I was a long stretch of road, and told myself "Maybe I’ll just keep going to the end of this road, and then walk home." So I did. Only, when I reached the end of the road and made the turn to go home I CONTINUED RUNNING. To top it all off, I made an extra loop around my block to be able to round it out at 40 minutes!!
Forty Minutes. ahem. Excuse me.
“Extra! Extra! Read all about it! I ran FORTY FLIPPING MINUTES without stopping.”
Imagine my surprise when I mapped my run and realized that I ran 3.5 miles total and did so in under 11:30 pacing!! I ran MORE than a 5K without stopping! And I knocked off 3:30 from the 3.5 mile race I ran in January! [So much for not being as focused on my time 
]
I have been non-stopped smiling every time I think about my run. I can not wait to run my next 5K [in the Texas heat on Memorial Day, eek!] without stopping. I can not wait to run the local YMCA 5K this year, and completely CRUSH my time from last year.
Yay! This really makes me happy! Accomplishing new things is already awesome and learning first hand that so much of running is mental is even better. Way to push yourself. One of my yoga teacher says that where we let oursves off the hook on the mat, where we quit on the mat, shows where we quit in life. I think the same can be said of running!
I love every lesson you share from your yoga teacher.
this is awesome! congratulations! i run like that, too–no route, no real mileage in mind… just how long i can go. those are the best runs.
Katie (Sweet Tater) recently posted..Benefits of Zookeeping
Fantastic job, girl!
Colleen @ The Lunchbox Diaries recently posted..You Hurt Yourself While Running in Place
That is awesome!!
Leanna recently posted..Fifteen
This is so awesome! I just started training for my very first 5K and this is helping me see that I WILL get better with running if I keep at it. I’m so proud of you
Theresa @ This is my Hungry Face recently posted..Breather
I can feel your excitement!! Be proud!!
Great job, Heather!!
congratulations, heather!!! that is SO exciting! i would be on cloud 9 if i could run for 40 minutes without stopping too!
ride that high!
sarah (sarah learns) recently posted..home sweet home
This makes me so happy!! Sometimes, I feel a little weird, like, congratulating you on fitness/running goals since I totally don’t prioritize that kind of thing as I should. I am by no means a runner. But your determination and your enthusiasm and your well-earned pride has just put a huge smile on my face! I’m so excited for you!!!
Kayla recently posted..Music Monday
Woohoo!!! That’s awesome
WOW!! I’m so proud of you! That’s an amazing accomplishment!
Mandy recently posted..FINALLY a Glass Menagerie recap
Congratulations Heather!!! This is so fantastic and so inspiring! I have always struggled with running and hearing about your acomplishment makes it seem more obtainable than I ever thought!! Thank you for encouraging all of us to keep pushing ourselves.
You rock!
woohoo! Great job Heather!
Sarah @ Long Legs Healthy Life recently posted..Three Things Thursday
Good job Heather, very impressive.
Woohoo!!! I’m so very proud of you!!! That’s quite an accomplishment!
Andrea @ Run, Eat, Date, Sleep recently posted..Wee Bit of Me Wednesday
Wow! Congrats! Way to go…good luck with the race:)
Nancy recently posted..Ive Moved!
And THIS is what I love about fitness! Sometimes you just have to go for it. And you will NEVER be unhappy that you did! Congrats
You’re amazing!
You’re perfect!
You’re fast!
You’re focused!
You’re inspiring!
You’re inspired!
You’re beautiful!
You’re strong!
You’re UNSTOPPABLE!
I <3 you!!!
kelsey@kelseytoney recently posted..30 Day Challenge- Day 1 Current Relationship
xoxoxoxoxox
What an accomplishment! I am so excited for you!!! Way to go!
Jennifer@ knackfornutrition recently posted..WTF Wednesday
Congrats!!!!! That is just fabulous. I’m going to start running again after my finals end, and I hope to be able to run 40 minutes without stopping at some point.
Meg recently posted..A Venn Diagram I Actually Understand
you can TOTALLY do it! (ps – good luck with finals!)
Congrats! That is AWESOME!!!
Yayyy, congratulations, Hea-ther!
Alexia @ Dimple Snatcher recently posted..Summer Lovin- Week 1
You go, girl!!
you.are.INCREDIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so proud of you, Heather!!!!!!!!! I LOVE it!!!! That’s an awesome feat… i probably stop to walk about ohhhh every 9 minutes when I’m out on a run. The only time when I don’t is during an actual race… and that’s only because all of the adrenalin rushing through me!!! YAY FOR YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Allison @ Happy Tales recently posted..It’s Not the Size of the Dog in the Fight…
Thank you dear
I am so excited for your MARATHON!!! so sooooooooooooooooooon.
AWESOME!
SO SO PROUD OF YOU!!!
(Also trying out my new gavitar!)
ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL!! I love your gravitar!!!
Heather! I just started reading your blog and I just wanted to tell you congratulations! That is amazing and I’m so happy for you
It’s so hard for me to run that far without stopping, and I also have my first 10K coming up! I haven’t been training as much as I should but you’re inspiring me to get my butt back out there!
THANK YOU, KRISTA!!
So inspiring! Really makes me want to get out there and start running again.
I remember when I had a run so similar to this. I just kept going and didn’t stop, and you’re right, it feels INCREDIBLE! Awesome for you, don’t let anything stop you now!!
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WOW! That’s so awesome!
You must have felt amazing and proud after you finished. That’s a huge accomplishment
Wow, that is HUGE. Congratulations!!!!
So unbelievably awesome. You should be incredibly proud of yourself. Way to go, Heather.
Amazing!
Alexa @ SimpleEats recently posted..Guilt
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