Eleven Miles and Never Felt (Much) Better

I did the 11 miles this morning. i started out slow so i wouldn't run out of steam. luckily it was very cool and not humid, that really helped. i was trying to stay at around a 10min per mile pace. i was able to stay pretty close to that. at mile 7.5 my shin and foot started hurting a little, but by mile 8 the pain was gone and i felt so good that i started picking up the pace a little. from miles 8-10 i was trying to maintain a 9:45 pace, then at mile 10 i tried to pick it up a notch again. if i hadn't done that i would not have felt bad at all. however, i really tried to push it during the last mile and the last hill took a little toll. here are my times if you are interested:

1m: 9:43
1.5m: 14:20 (4:37)
2m: 19:29 (5:08)
2.5m: 24:25 (4:55)
3m: 29:25 (5:00)
3.5m: 34:30 (5:04)
4m: 39:20 (4:50)
4.5m: 44:30 (5:10)
5m: 49:47 (5:16)
5.5m: 55:07 (5:20)
6m: 1:00.28 (5:20)
6.5m: 1:05.41 (5:13)
7m: 1:10.50 (5:08)
7.5m: 1:15.42 (4:52)
8m: 1:20.45 (5:02)
8.5m: 1:25.41 (4:56)
9m: (oops i forgot to hit the button)
9.5m: 1:35.21 (9:40)
10m: 1:39.49 (4:27)
11m: 1:49.05 (9:16)

that gives me a pace of 9:54 min/mile. i don't think that is too bad. i really felt like i could run another 4-5 miles if i had needed to. but my schedule says not to do that. i have not been sore today either, like i was when i ran the 8 miles. so, overall i feel very good about my run and think it is time to register for the clarksville 1/2 marathon!

because i didn't run yesterday and i ran today that sort of throws my schedule off, but i was thinking it might be better that way. we are moving into the new clinic next saturday, so it will be hard for me to run that day. so, by being off schedule by one day this week i will have the big run scheduled for next sunday. i will just have to do some running before work.

this quote is from Josh McDowell's book More Than a Carpenter: "Christianity is not a religion. Religion is humans trying to work their way to God through good works. Christianity is God coming to men and women through Jesus Christ offering them a relationship with Himself." The Bible teaches us that we can't earn our salvation through works but by faith through grace. now don't get me wrong, if you are a Christian you will want to work for God, but just doing "Christian" work does not get you into Heaven, it's the relationship with God through Jesus.