Getting there...

   Way back at the beginning of this running adventure, in early August, Doralyn and I found ourselves engaged in the Running Room Learn-to-Run clinic.
   We combined walking and running in timed intervals and gradually worked it so that eventually the running part of it took over.
   Doralyn was able to program her iPhone so that an alarm would sound at the end of intervals. I very clearly remember, very early on in the process, being engaged in a three minute running interval and thinking to myself please, please, please, please, PLEASE make that alarm go off so I can stop this torture! And every time we increased the running interval, I would more or less think the same thing. I was never sure how I was going to manage to run one extra minute.
   Yesterday, I ran for over an hour.
   I ran non-stop and, honestly, could have run longer. At the end of the hour, I had run eight kilometers. My normal routine involves running 5k on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. On Saturdays, though, I have been gradually increasing the length of the runs by one kilometer per week. Currently I am at 8k and am aiming to reach 10k in another two weeks.
   Yesterday, I simply ran my old 4k route twice, in different directions. I remember the effort required to work my way up to being able to run 4k and just how gradually I had to do it. I also remember just how exhausted I was when I managed to do it the first time without stopping. If someone had come along that day and said "Well, now you have to do that again...", I'm sure I would have punched them, had I been able to muster the energy! Yet, that was what I did yesterday.
   The weird part was I thought I could have quite easily run farther, I'm pretty sure I could probably have tacked on the extra 2k that would have gotten me to my 10k goal. I was, however, trying to remain true to the process (on top of being pretty damned tired) so I didn't.
   I had planned an entirely different 8k route for yesterday, one that would have taken me from this end of Springbank Park along the river to Wonderland and then back. It had snowed the night before, however, and was very cold so I was unsure as to the running conditions in the park. I was pretty sure the streets and sidewalks would be okay so I stuck to them.

   I did have some trepidation with running the old 4k route twice, simply getting back to my comment above about punching anyone who might have suggested me having to do this earlier on in the training. I was worried that this might be a bit of a psychological barrier, that I would get to the end of the first 4k and not have the will or energy to do it all over again. Wasn't a problem. Reversing the direction made it seem like a whole new course, hills I'd struggled with became easy runs and winds that were in my face were now at my back. Piece of cake, really! Was still pretty tired at the end but not as tired as I was last week when I ran 7k for the first time.
   Hey, this training thing works! On to 9k next week!