I went the distance....

I enjoy trying to maintain an active lifestyle which includes cross-training and the by-product is that I feel good in body and mind and I can function in other areas of my life. We have had a treadmill for about a year and I use it like 3-4X week building up my distance and speed every few weeks. Usually I put in about an average of 35min and 3.2miles. It has been a goal of mine to run 5miles without stopping or resting and to conquer that fitness goal of mine. I did it today. The funny thing is that I don't really push myself that often when it comes to workouts or other physical fitness activities. I train every week with a good friend of mine and we hit the weights pretty hard, but it's never a situation where I cannot move my arms or walk the next day. He tells me that I never push myself enough. I get the burn and pump, but I just try to listen to my body. I don't know. I have been injured alot (broken nose, broken wrist, countless sprained ankles, strained knee ligaments...you get the point) in my days of zero responsibility (high school and early college) when I would spend hours at the YMCA playing basketball or playing football in the park with friends. I miss those days! :( It's difficult to accept that your commitments to work, professional development and family sometimes take away from sports, but I think I have my fitness goals and activities worked in pretty well to my life. Anyway, 5miles may not seem like much to most of you, but we are talking about someone who was not known for being a cross-country runner in any stretch of the imagination. I was a sprinter. I played baseball and it was the time from home to first base that was my main priority. I played basketball and it was that drive from top of the key to the rim that mattered. I played football and it was running that 10yrd route to get separation from the coverman. Anyway, you run in practice, but usually 2.5miles or something like that, but I was not the best when it came to longer distances. I feel good about this 5miles. I told Libera that I would like to eventually build up my fitness to run a marathon. Opera ran one!! Come one, if I cannot get to that point, I have serious issues. Hahaha. This is a small step in some people's minds, but I will keep up and post my progress as it incrementally improves.