13 Miles...

I ran 13 miles yesterday.

I spent the majority of last week worried about it, after all... the last time I ran 13 miles was in Chicago.. with Pamela and Jocelyn. I had friends to push me, a group of amazing Team Challenge supporters and teammates, and frankly it didn't seem so bad. There would be a medal and a party after. Not so much yesterday.

To make matters worse, I should have been running the Miami Half Marathon yesterday with Team Challenge, but I wasn't. Pamela and I decided that it was for the best to bow out of Miami. Her body is not happy with her love/hate relationship with the good ole 13.1, and decided to be stubborn. She needs to get healthy, rest up and although I could have gone on to do the race alone, it just wouldn't be the same.

All of that left me to complete my 13 miles solo. Since the weather was beautiful (a tropical 40 degrees!) I bought myself a new gps watch

(Garmin Forerunner 10!!)

to tackle the miles outside. Boy was it HILLY!! My legs were SCREAMING at the end of that run, way too much elevation change for my first outdoor run in awhile.

But, its over. And I'm kind of sad to see the 13 miles go. It was a milestone for me. Training for my first half marathon it was the 8 mile run that seemed to spark something in me. Today its this last run, 13 miles. I learned a lot about myself out there. I learned that I can spend 2:30 hrs with myself and really truly enjoy it. I learned that I AM capable of running, running far, no matter the speed. I learned that this chubby runner is turning into an athlete again.

Yesterday there were no medals, no cheering section and no after run party... there was just me, my sneakers and the road. And I couldn't be happier.