6 Miles!

This Saturday, I ran 6 miles. 6 MILES!!
Clearly, this excites me. And I didn't stop! Except for that one part when I got kinda lost. But other than that, I didn't stop! I think it took about an hour and a half. I'm slowly still learning my pace and learning what it feels like to run that far of a distance.

Long-distance running is so much different than what I have done for exercise in the past. In my (short) experience, long distance running requires far more psychological stamina than I ever imagined. For most of the run, my heart was good, my joints felt good, and I was breathing well. However, keeping my mind in check was more difficult. I kept pushing down the urge to quit, or to take a rest, or to curl up into an egg-like position and just roll the rest of the way. I tried my best to think of the scenery around me, the fact that the weather is finally warming and all the pleasant things about life, but it was hard. I thought about good memories and bad memories, and the bad memories tended to try and dominate, making my run seem far longer than it was.

This week, I want to focus on how I think while I run. I want to find things I can listen to while I run, and things I can think about that would give me hope, keep me positive, and keep my mind off of monotonous activity.

I like marshmallows. Maybe I'll think about them. Who doesn't get happy when they think about marshmallows? :) Marshmallows and roller gel pens. *sigh* I'm in heaven.

Ok, so my list needs a little work. :)