I've been keeping a little tally of my running milestones for a few reasons, the main ones being that it's easy to see if I'm actually getting better/fitter and another being that they provide a great deal of satisfaction and motivation when I reach one.
When I started running back in May/June, I found it hard to run for much over a kilometre without stopping or feeling like my heart was about to punch its way through my ribcage. Getting over that hurdle was the first, and perhaps most satisfying. Within a couple of months, I could quite comfortably run 3km, albeit at a snail's pace.
My next milestone, therefore, came in August (I think) when I found that I could run 5km without having to stop to rest - or receive CPR...
My first barefoot milestone was also in August, when I completed my first full barefoot run. I then gave barefoot trail running a bash and started running in the morning.
Somebody must have thought I was getting a bit too cocky, though, because the next milestone was not a particularly pleasant one: an Achilles injury. Thankfully, that seems to have healed and my next milestone was a major one for me - my first 10km run! I can't tell you how good it feels to know that I am now capable of running 10km (not barefoot, yet...).
So what's the point of this post? Well, I passed another milestone today as I ran 3km in under 15 minutes, which (I think) is a first for me. Now I know that 3km in 15 minutes is not exactly a scorching pace, but not so long ago it would have probably taken me twice that, if I was even able to go that far. I wasn't even planning it; I just noticed the time after I had finished the run. All in all, I'm pretty pleased. Incidentally, I ran in my Vibram FiveFingers KSOs this morning.