I got the following e-mail from my brother-in-law Dan yesterday. Dan is in the military and is currently on a boat, away from his family. I thought this story was appropriate to share on this site. I really enjoyed reading about his recent running experience and I hope all of you do too!

I had the greatest run of my life yesterday, and I knew you would be one to appreciate my excitement. It was so cool, I had to call Jen [his wife], which we don’t get to do very much when we’re at sea, but I knew you’d be the one who could personally understand.

My big goal for this month at sea was to run 6 miles without stopping. The most I’ve ever run is 5 miles, which I’ve only done like 4 times in my life. So, I hoped to break my own (measly) record. So, yesterday was the day to try for 6. I had run 5 last week and it was a real struggle for that last mile, so I was a bit nervous. Well, yesterday I began out feeling pretty good. I passed the 4 mark, which is where I usually end my runs, and kind of entered this “zone.” It was like running wasn’t even hard any more. I wasn’t sweating much, and my breathing was gentle. It was like I was running so efficiently. I passed 5 miles easy, and breezed past 6 miles. I got to seven and still wasn’t really tired, but my book on tape that I’d been listening to for the last 3 weeks ended. I was really happy, ecstatic really, with 7 miles. I got off the treadmill and walked over to the water fountain and realized I had run for almost 57 minutes! That was by far the longest I have ever run – much longer than I even believed possible for me. But I then realized that I had almost run for an hour, and so I got right back on the treadmill and did another mile, just to say I ran for over an hour.

I couldn’t (can’t) believe that I ran 8 miles straight, with time off only to go get a drink of water, in 1:04:15. Just over 8:00 minute miles. The amazing thing is how I felt the last 4 miles – almost like it was effortless. Do you ever feel that way?! I am still amazed that you run 13 miles, or, good heavens, 26!!! I am so impressed that you have worked your way up to it. And now that I’ve actually run as far as 8 miles, I am even more in awe that you are doing what you’re doing. And you do it on the road – mine was on a treadmill, which I think helps a lot. And I think it’s great that you are dedicating all that pain and effort and time to your Team in Training goals and raising money. It is really inspiring.

8-minute-miles! Seriously?! I’m impressed… I run slower than that, it would be pretty awesome if I could do an entire marathon with such speed. Maybe someday I can work up to that level, I’ve been building up distance and haven’t really worked on speed much.

Thanks for sharing Dan, I love getting feedback from family and friends as I proceed on this journey! It means so much to me that all of you are supportive and are “involved” in my training.

Hundred Push-Up Challenge:
Week 5, Day 3 – 12, 12, 12, 12, 10, 10, 9, 31 = 108