10:37 is the new 11:30

I've had about a 3-week hiatus from running recently.  Travelling, vacation, the holidays... just haven't been running much since my last 5k race at the end of October.  The good news is that as of today I've lost all the weight I put on during our lazy drunken Mexico vacation (followed quickly by the infamous all-you-can-eat-Turkey Thursday), so I'm officially back on track with my weight loss efforts.

Coming back from even a short break always feels like I'm starting completely from scratch!  I find it really discouraging, running shorter intervals and walking more, etc.  So I tried something a little different this week.  I took the dog for her walk yesterday afternoon - it was crazy-warm, temp in the 60s in Illinois December! - and I decided such beautiful weather called for a longer walk in celebration.  We walked and did a wee bit of jogging to the junior high about a mile from home, then ran a Test Mile.  NO WALK BREAKS ALLOWED, just run until the Garmin says a full mile completed.  I said to myself, "None of this interval crap - your body knows what to do, and your MIND is the only thing keeping you from doing it."

Test time:  10:37!!  Pretty good for a slow, overweight runner-girl! My previous Test Mile in September was just under 11 minutes.

This got me thinking:  if I can run one mile in 10:37, I can run two at that pace... or three.  Like, in a row.  So I decided 10:37 is my new medium-term goal pace... 10:37 is the new 11:30.

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/549507_10151049667186234_1640611998_n.jpg