THE Best Run!!!

Feeling so down yesterday really got to me. It scares me that after coming so far in this journey and feeling so much better generally I still can have such bad days, but I guess it's life and I just have to deal with them the best I can, get through them and wait for the better ones to come along.
Anyway, last night I got my running gear laid out ready with the idea of going out for a run this morning maybe, depending on the weather, as I knew if I could get through a run I'd feel better. I told hubby my plan and that I was going to have breakfast first and wait for the potty call (TMI I know lol) so I could go out and not have to worry about stomach cramps like last week lol.
So this morning, got up, got in my running gear straight away, had breakfast, waited for potty call and got myself very nervous as I always do before an outside run (why is this I wonder?). I'd played around with some routes on Map My Run last night because I wanted to try something different. From my house there is a long uphill which I've avoided so far. The last few times I've ran I've warmed up at home first. Today I decided I'd use the hill to do my warm up walk, so I walked and warmed up on the uphill, then once I got to the flat I started Bob (do you like my new name for my Garmin lol, been thinking of names for days and kept coming back to Bob from BL so he's now been christened). I knew roughly where I was going but some of it was sort of feel your way along which was a little weird. One bit was a quite steep downhill and I learnt that you really have to go slow if you don't want to fall on your face lol (I didn't, but only through luck). For the first 4k I felt amazing, Bob helped me keep my pace and heart rate steady and I KNEW that today was going to be the day I completed my first full 5k outside without stopping. After 4k I started to tire a little though and had to slow down slightly, but I was determined and when I hit the 5k point I just kept going. In the end I ran 6k without stopping, and the last little bit of that was a steep uphill which I dragged my legs up. I did another 1k after that which was also mostly uphill and ran/walked it, so altogether including my warm up walk I did about 8k. The 7k was in 54.41 including walking, the 6k run was in 46.12 and I did the 5k in 38.13!!!! So I did my first full 5k outside non-stop in under 40mins, which are my goals for the Race For Life in 20 days!!!
I'm just SO proud of myself today. I picked myself up after a bad day, dusted myself off, and went out and did the best run I've ever done! I also proved to myself that I can run/walk much further than I gave myself credit for. Having only done 5.5k non-stop on the treadmill up to now, to then go outside and do 6k including hills, and about 8k altogether just amazes me. When I've looked at other people's routes on the internet and seen them regularly doing 10k I've thought I'd never get to that point, but after today I've realised I'm much closer than I ever imagined!
Something else I noticed today which has intrigued me is that on the treadmill, for the first 10-15mins my left calf and shin ache til they warm up properly, but when I run outside they don't. Wonder how that is?
Off for my shower now and to wallow in my after run glow!