Although this day was not without it's frustrations work wise, and traffic-wise,  it wound up being a GREAT day, and I feel like I'm still trying to come down off a high...maybe a very slight runner's high? 

Traffic was horrible this morning.  A drive that should normally take me no more than 20 minutes took me more than an hour!  Thankfully, my boss trusts that out of the 8 years that I've been there and all the overtime I've worked, and the times when I have gotten there early on a regular basis, that I'm not going to cheat on my time, so he pretty much is always understanding and doesn't say anything.

Work was super-hectic...big boss wanting 2 projects at the same time, and me telling coworker to tell him if he could grow me 2 more arms and another brain, I might could accomplish the feat he wanted! 

So I was excited to get away from work this afternoon to go to Shelby Farms, and like I did before my Race for the Cure 5k...run my own "Personal 5k" before the 5k that Tatumsmom and I are doing Saturday morning.  To be still over a month away from the beginning of Spring, the weather was absolutely gorgeous!  Temps were right around 63-65, the sun was shining, and there might have been a slight breeze...but perfect walking/jogging/running weather! 

 I started out jogging from the entrance of the trail and decided I would jog as far as I could...I have gone as far as .25 mile and even .35 mile at a time, but I wanted to see if I could push it a little further.  So I made it (without stopping to walk) from the entrance of the trail, around the west end of the lake, and to just past the pier on the other side of the lake for a total of 1/2 mile before I walked!  I looked at my Garmin as I slowed to walk, and it said I had done the 1/2 mile at a 12:34 avg. pace. 

I decided that I would start my 1/10 miles intervals of walking/jogging, so after walking 1/10 of a mile, I started to jog again.  As I was approaching the end of my 1/10 jog interval, an older man that appeared to be in his late 60's/early 70's jogged passed me and said "You rock...you go!" and gave me the thumbs up!  LOL...I said thanks, and being motivated by seeing someone that age breeze past me, I decided I could at least jog another 1/10 of a mile!  I continued my 1/10 mile intervals through to the 3.1 mile mark when I stopped my Garmin...2 times around Patriot Lake is 3.34, but I wanted to make a trial run of our 5k on Saturday.  These were my Garmin stats:

Total time: 43:38/Average pace: 14:06/Calories burned: 400

• Mile 1 - 12:49 avg. pace
• Mile 2 - 14:33 avg. pace
• Mile 3 - 14:58 avg, pace
• .10 - 13.18 avg. pace

 YES!!!  For me, my fastest 5k so far...I finished Race for the Cure in 46:29 from the time I crossed the starting mat to the finish mat, and I finished today almost 3 minutes faster...and I've NEVER in my recent history had an average pace in the 12 minute range...albeit just for the first mile, and I was thrilled that my average pace for the entire distance was just over 14 minutes! 

Needless to say, I felt great when I finished, and kinda' felt that excitement and endorphin rush that seems to make you feel like you're just floating along!  Maybe not a full-fledged runner's high, but enough to leave me wanting more!

I've had an on plan week since last Thursday...my "AHA" moment earlier this week of seeing just how my body had changed has over the last few days kept me motivated to stay within my 1500 calories! Since I knew I had been on plan...I wanted to take a peek at the scale before I ate supper...just to see...and it was under 210...at 209!  I said I would not move my graph again until I got under 210, but I think I'm going to wait until Saturday morning or Sunday morning to see if that number lowers, but even if not...even at 209, I would be within 10 lbs. of ONDERLAND!!!

So for all today's frustrations, I had so much to be happy about before the day was over!  I still think I'm trying to wind down, and it's just before midnight!

TGIF in just about 20 minutes...and for some of us, the beginning of an extended weekend!  I hope everyone has a great Friday!