Running wild

Once upon a time I tried to run a little bit around the lake. After that I've never found the confidence to try again, even knowing that at this point I could probably do it.
Today I got up early, despite the rain, put on my running shoes, geared up the Beloved (in his function of care cyclist) with water, the camera and other things I thought I could need along the way and started.
Did I mention it rained?
It was good to have a bit of support with me, though it didn't help that I felt inclined to talk to him while running. Or that I had to pack my coat into the backpack while running after him.

The Runkeepr app I use was set for an alert every 15 minutes, but I silenced the pace or distance alerts; I did not want to feel pressure. I just wanted to run. So I did. Oh yeah, and then it rained some more.
I was hoping I'd be able to make it before the 4th 15 minute alert; I'd be content with that. So, at the end, thinking I must be getting close to that hour I gave it all I had left which, granted, wasn't much.

And then I looked at my phone.

5.8K. In 51 minutes. I had no idea.

So then I spend 5 minutes just going "holy shit" over and over :)

Obviously, for 'real' runners, this is nothing. But to me, and the people that have followed this journey will understand, this is MASSIVE. I am now confident I'll be able to participate in our annual Grape Lake Run so I'll be signing up for that in the next week or so.

The times they are a-changing.