6.37 miles

This morning I ran in the Colfax Marathon.  Before you get too excited, I did the relay portion of the marathon with 4 other co-workers.  I completed the second leg which was 6.37 miles long and I completed my personal best for a 10K run...66 minutes!  I was shooting for 65 minutes, but I will certainly take 66.
The last time I ran a 10K was the Bolder Boulder two years ago and it was not pretty.  I was full of complaints while running and didn't do very well time-wise.  I didn't train much for that race and it showed.  I haven't really run since that 10K because of a 'sore knee' and a 'sore hip' and a dog that won't run with me.  You see, I haven't run because I always have an excuse.  So, when I signed up for this race I was determined to beat my time by training. 
My training began just after spring break, well, a week after that actually because I was at Outdoor Lab.  I think I did well with the training even on those days that I really didn't want to go for a run I still managed to get out the door.  It helped that summer was right around the corner and I haven't been loving the look of my body in a bikini - that is a big motivator!  Ferdinand and Sadie even went on a few short runs with me.  It was tough at first to figure out a schedule for training because when I get home I have to walk Sadie...she won't run with just one person.  Once I get home from walking her, I head back out the door and go for a run.  During the training process I remembered that I love to run.
Today was a perfect day to run.  It was 40 degrees when I started and slightly drizzling.  I'm not a fan of hot weather when I exercise and the humidity is a lot easier to breathe in than dry heat.  I also tend to get a little bored when I run if the scenery doesn't change.  The scenery was awesome and kept me going all while dreaming up this blog post.  I loved this run from start to finish. 
I began running in City Park in Denver and looped around the backside of the zoo before heading south to Colfax.  Once on Colfax it became interesting, it was like I was running down memory lane.  I ran past the tattoo parlor where I got my tongue ring when I was 20.  I ran past the Ogden Theatre and the Fillmore where I've seen concerts.  Then I ran past the Office Depot parking lot where someone spent the evening throwing up because they drank too much before going into a concert at the Fillmore...we never did see Dashboard Confessional that night.  Once we got to Speer we veered off the road and onto the Cherry Creek Trail by the creek.  I haven't been on this trail since Rollerblades were the big thing and that was about 15 years ago.  They have really spruced up that trail, it was clean and beautiful.  We wove our way down the creek to Confluence Park by REI and then we turned the corner to see Invensco Field - our finish line. 
I passed more people than people passed me and I loved having the homeless people cheering us on - no really they were!  They were pretty funny trying to encourage each other to run with us.
I plan to continue running this week so that I will keep running every week, not just when I've signed up for a race.  I'm so thankful that did this race and training well for it because I needed to be reminded that I love to run.