Today, M and I ran 10 miles. 

I hit my ‘secret miles’ goal of 10 miles today and didn’t tell a soul (well, except M…and maybe my sis, hehe. but that’s a given!).

It’s a complete switch for me. To set a goal for myself and well, keep it to myself, primarily, until I accomplish it (I *may* have mentioned it in this post, but sort of snuck that in there, didn’t I?). And I did it this way because I wanted to do it quietly, no self-inflicted pressure, nothing. Do it, then share it.

I think about this time last summer, I was beating myself up after a craptastic half marathon performance (my second – and likely – last ever) and floundering with my run-goals. Where to go from here, what to focus on, what do I want my ‘run personality’ to be? I was in heavy comparison mode. Total compare-itis.

Fast forward to now? To running happy miles. To running to run. To enjoying every run, and run sherpa’ing my sister and anyone else that jumps in to this wonderful group of women we’ve cultivated (Dorry, Lindsay, Heather, Spabettie, Amber, Melissa, Meaghan, and of course, Jess!).

And most of all?

To supporting Jess and Scott in their marathon 100%. And then some. When she told me she was running a marathon, my first reaction was “I wish I wanted that. I wish we could share it together” (and in the back of my mind…fears that my old comparision-itis fears would come back to haunt me and I’d be jealous, to be quite honest). But you know what? We ARE sharing it. Just in a different way. And I honestly think that ‘quiet support’ I’ve found, combined with really focusing on happy, smart runs, has made all the difference.

The lightbulb has flicked and I am running happily and most importantly, running well, almost every time. Sure there are still mental runs (running is naturally just mental, let’s face it!), sure some are better than others, but I run because I love it and love what it does for me, not because of any other outside factor (cue run-mesia!).

This morning’s run was a perfect 10. Perfect 10 day (low humidity, cool morning in the upper 50s (!), rested legs). Perfect 10 miles. Perfect 10 time spent with M. Who sang to me, hopped like a gazelle over trash or sticks (man, I hate when he looks so damn oblivious to the fact that we are running and running wicked far – heehee), and kept me going the entire time.

When we walked outside to get started, still slightly dark, a little baby bunny went scampering right in front of us into the bushes. I squeaked and whispered ‘hi bunny, hi bun bunnnn, so cuuuuute’ and M proceeded to shake his head and call me crazy, saying ‘even the bunny is a little uncomfortable at how happy you are to see him’ <LOL! But then said ‘that bunny is a sign that this is going to be a good run.”

And good run it was. Perfect 10, in fact.