Kill-ometers

I am totally confused about running and distance and treadmill settings that I have a slight headache this morning.  When I started running last summer, I used my distance tracker on my car to guage how far a mile and 3 miles were.  Based on that, I was running the one mile distance in about 10-12 minutes, and when I ran what I thought was 3 miles, it generally took me 30-35 minutes.  When I did my 5K it felt so much farther/longer than the distance I measured with my car, and it took 46 minutes to complete.  I chalked it up to extreme weather conditions, a heavy heart/mood and horrible humidity. 
The distance tracker on the treadmill I am using begins in .10 and works its way up to 99 before it switches to 1.0, so I know it isn't reading in miles, which is what I am more comfortable with.  The day I thought I ran a mile, I was judging it only on the time I was running, about 10 minutes.  The distance tracker showed me .33 and I had no idea what it meant, but assumed it was about a mile, since that's how long it took me to run a mile last year, or so I thought.  Today, I doubled that distance and ran until I saw .66, and did it in about 11 minutes.  Then, when I got home I googled the conversion rates from kilometers to miles, and my mood sank.  Now, I was not trying to delude myself into believing I can run 2 miles in twelve minutes, so I knew I would need to convert things in order to guage how far I'd gone, but I found that in twelve minutes, I hadn't completed a mile, and to make matters worse, it was really challenging for me to run that.  Today was the first time I actually figured out my per mile time from my first 5k, nearly 15 minutes per mile.  That is a little disheartening, but now that I have the conversion chart printed, it will help guide me.  And, while I was running I felt like I wanted to stop 5 minutes into it, but I also knew that I could keep running and I did, and I was also aware that I could go faster if I wanted to, but I didn't.  I can tell I am going to be sore for a few days, so I will not run again probably until Saturday or Sunday.  The zany thing about the treadmill is that it is set in miles/hr for speed by kilometers for distance.  Sheesh!
So my running in the next few weeks will include actually running a full mile (for real this time) to see my time, then increasing my speed for the next mile run.  Eventually, I will run longer distances at varying speeds to see where I am comfortable, then slowly work toward faster speeds.  At 5'0, my legs are extremely short, so I don't expect to be a speed demon, but I know I can improve on a 15-minute mile!  At some point, I should probably invest in one of those fancy armbands I've seen runners wearing, to track speed and distance.  If anyone wants to chime in on their experiences with said device, feel free to chime in.  I'd love to know if they are accurate.
When I was turning 29 I remember having a long list of things I wanted to do before I turned 30.  They included such silly things as learning to play guitar and learning to skateboard.  I never tried skateboarding, thank all that is holy.  I did monkey around with an accoustic guitar and taught myself a little bit, but gave up before reaching my dream of jamming on stage with Green Day.  Ahem!  Before you laugh, they do invite audience members on stage to jam at each show.  Or, at least they did when I was 29.  My list of silly desires never included weight loss, because I wasn't ready to commit to it.  When I began this journey toward health last year, I decided that by the time I hit 40, I wanted to look and feel better than I have in years.  Tomorrow I turn 39, and my goals have changed tremendously from the ones I had 10 years ago.  I now have a family of my own, have finally committed to a healthier lifestyle and am going back to school.   What's left to shoot for before 40?  Finishing a 5K in less than 46 minutes, for one.   And even if I never accomplish silly side dreams, I have already accomplished the ones that matter the most.  Anything else, is just a bonus.
Happy Wednesday everyone!  Thanks for reading.

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