4 miles!

To prep for the mud run, I was pointed to some online running training programs. And the one I'm kind of using is running 2 miles a couple of times a week, with a 40 minute run once a week. And the idea is then eventually move up the mileage by week. I've been averaging a pace barely under 11 minutes per mile when I did my 2 mile runs earlier this week. With my sister and Augie keeping my mom company, I was motivated to do my 40 minute run today. I was so pleasantly surprised when my RunKeeper app announced I was at .5 miles at 5 minutes, that I decided to see if I could keep that 10 minute per mile pace for the next 5 minutes. And when I did, I pushed myself for the next 5 minutes, and before I knew it:

Between the farthest distance and the best average pace since I don't know when, I was really psyched that I did this run. It definitely got harder to keep that pace in the last half of the run and I was breathing so hard in the last 5 minutes I worried people in their houses could hear me gasping for breath. I'm sure if my hands were clutched around my heart instead of my iPhone, people would have assumed I was having a heart attack.

I probably should go up in mileage or something but I think I'm going to hang at these distance/time goals for a couple more weeks--at least until it's not nearly as painful. I get achy in my lower back and starting to feel a little shin-splinty--anybody got any tips on running form?