In September I made a running friend at work. She is the best and also a great runner. But she runs much faster than me. I huffed and puffed and chugged along side her. Low and behold, after a month of running with her I was running 9:45 miles, but only when I ran with her. The more I ran with her, the better my running got and the faster I got. Some of our runs were 9:15-9:30 minute miles. Now we didn't always maintain that for long distances, but the average run with her was 9:45. I loved it and am amazed at how far I've come. And I'm thankful for a great running partner.
Today's run was a new path. I've run around my work, the same two paths for so long that I was dying for some new scenery. Well the scenery I found was a hill, a long, slow hill.
And boy did that hill kick my butt. I just put my head down and tried to keep up with my running friend. At one point I almost ran straight into a biker because I wasn't paying attention to anything but getting up that hill. But together we did it. Unfortunately, we still had a mile to go and I was exhausted. The part about uphills is they come with downhills which are just as hard for me but the downhill signals the end of the run. I couldn't believe it, but I had more to give and I kicked it into high gear for a great finish.
Now, you'd think after running that monster hill, my numbers would be back to the 9:00-10:00 range. And on average they were. But more shocking was my first mile. It was 8:47. I broke the 8's. And it's all because of the encouragement of my running friend. Let me say it again, I broke the 8's. I'm in shock and amazement about this accomplishment. 
Running is always teaching me something. And this run showed me that with continued training some day I might just be faster than I though possible.
I know how hard yiu have worked and dedicated you've been and I'm beyond proud of you. Because I know you so well I am confident that you will continue to see improvements in your times. Keep it up and never stop running!! Your friend:)
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