NSV: An accidental 5k

I have been working out for about 5 weeks. My "trainer" (a friend from another State who gives me exercise and diet tips over the phone and via email a couple times a week) asked me not to jump into running too quickly. To work up to it very slowly, to ensure I don't injure my ligaments/tendons, as they take a lot longer than muscles to improve. So, I would do running in small intervals, but mostly I was doing walking fast with an incline, and strength training.

Last night he gave me the "all clear" to run during my evening exercise. My goal was to run two miles straight, without stopping @ 5mph. While it was pretty brutal sometimes (24 minutes sure is a long time when you're working that hard...) I made it through the whole two miles. I decided to walk for the next 16 minutes. Well, I walked for about 90 seconds and felt pretty good. Decided I could run again. So I ran for a couple minutes. Then walked a minute or two, then I ran again. A couple minutes into this run I looked down at the treadmill and saw that I was at like 2.5 miles. Then it occurred to me that I was only like .6 miles from finishing a 5k.

I got serious and I ran the rest of the way. I actually finished an inadvertent 5k! My first ever. I never dreamed I would do something like that.

Stats
Time: 39:30
Ran for: 35 minutes
Walked for: 4:30
Feeling: Unbelievable

I'm pretty sure that I could have run the entire way, but there's a strong mental portion to steady state cardio that I haven't mastered yet. The "just because you want to quit does not mean you need to quit" part. I will get there.