It was the first time I truly embraced what a slow, easy run meant. For the longest time, I was too caught up on my pace, even on my easy runs. Once I hit a certain pace, I felt like I needed to speed up because I wasn't THAT slow. That I was better than that pace or I was being a sissy or something. But the first day I decided to just go out for a long run and not look at my pace the entire time, just run wherever I felt comfortable and enjoy the day, I almost doubled my previous longest run. I felt good the entire time, but after 5 miles I was just on cloud nine. The music was good, the weather was good, my heart rate was low, I felt good. I made it 8 miles on that run (my previous high was 4.5), and honestly I didn't want to stop. I only stopped because it had gotten dark and I had prior obligations, but I truly wanted to keep running because there was no where else I would rather be than exactly where I was in that moment.