500 Festival Miler Series 10 Miler

In preparation for the Mini Marathon and Carmel Half Marathon that's actually next week, Stephen and I participated in the final race of the Miler Series. After looking back at my half marathon training I have been doing throughout the winter I discovered that I slowly lost my passion in running. All the tempo runs and intervals running made me feel like running was more of a chore for me than something that I used to enjoy. I have been so focused on pace/speed that I have lost the true reason for running. I didn't want to be all wrapped up in getting faster and faster and feeling disappointed when I didn't performed as well. Right before the Saturday race I decided to "take my running back". I am not a professional athlete that has to perform at certain level. I am just a girl that wants to enjoy running because of it's amazing benefits. Who cares if I finish half marathon in under 2 hours. I want to be able to enjoy each run and race to the fullest. That was exactly the attitude that I had when going into the run on Saturday. Stephen decided to run with me and we started pretty slow. I didn't want to put any pressure on myself. There was no goal or certain pace to keep, just keep it fun. We both found this comfortable pace and kept going. The last mile I sped up a little just because that's what I typically do. It always feels good sprinting to the finish line. Stephen wanted to slow down but I told him to keep going strong and we finished great together. The final result was better than ever. Finished 10 miles at 1 hour and 28 minutes! I absolutely loved the fact that I did not have any high expectations for this race and still finished great. But the most important part was that I really enjoyed it and had fun run it with my husband. Keep it fun everyone!