Ta dah.

Okay so "Ta dah" may be a bit much for today's achievement, but I am so excited (and full of myself) that no other headline feels right.

I ran ten miles.

That's right. Ten. (Okay, in all truth it was actually 9.8 when I went back and recalculated, but I think I'm allowed to round up.)

I decided to see if the sneaker-store guy (who suggested my gait had more in common with an elephant than a llama) might be right about the running surface and my ankles so I ran the canal path today instead of my neighborhood route. I hate to admit it, but it seems he was partially correct. (Limited discomfort kicked in about mile 8 by my estimation but I still don't like my shoes and will continue to blame them.)

I love the canal and it was really nice to run the path. I was so happy and comfortable (today's weather was perfect for running) that I couldn't quite believe it when I made it to the turn around point. The whole way back my internal conversation went something like this: "Are you sure that was the five mile mark? I'm pretty sure. I mean, I'm running ten miles. I can't believe it's really ten miles. Are you sure this will be ten miles? Ugh, my toes are asleep. Ten. I must have miscalculated the route-- there's no way I'm already this far. How come I'm not tired? Oh look, a turtle."

I made it back to the car, stretched, and decided to verify my route calculations (as close as possible since the canal and the road are not exactly parallel) just to be sure that I didn't goof like I did on Monday. (That was such a disappointment.) And although it was a little short, I essentially ran ten miles and felt good doing it.

It took me two hours and I did walk when I needed to drink, but I ran ten miles which is four more than I've ever run before and the equivalent to what I ran the whole rest of the week. If I can run ten, I can run 12, then 14, and eventually 26.2.

Now it's time for a shower and then a pedicure. I've earned it.