How I did it: I built it up just like the plan says.  It helped that I found a great trail-- away from traffic and through trees and, thankfully, mostly flat.  I still need to work on running hills. 

Lessons & tips: I did not worry about speed or distance-- only getting through it!  I ran to music and found that Beyonce and/or Destiny's Child have some great beats for running.  I downloaded a bunch of "girl power" music to give me the belief support for times when I started to doubt.  I found that a really strong song about 10 minutes in and another around 17 minutes in got me through.

Then, when I walked back to the start of the trail for my cool-down, I listened to a book. This also let me catch up on some books I wanted to read, but hadn't had time for.  Sometimes, I ran a little further because I knew I wanted to listen to more of the book.  And sometimes I just turned around at the trailhead and walked for one more chapter.

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Nov 17, 2008, 04:54AM PST | 3 comments | 4 cheers