I've come to love reading these threads, but never posted.
I started "training" for a 5k to keep up with a whole bunch of 3rd-5th grade girls
http://www.girlsontherun.org/
My part in the program was supposed to be as a "professional" woman mentoring these girls in that aspect - running didn't come into it. But, I thought if they could learn to run 3.1 mi, so could I!
I'm slow and my max distance is a 3.2 mi trail loop that includes some pretty hefty elevation change (I walk up the 0.25 mi hill that the motorcyclists use to challenge themselves, I've seen several fall over, and run the rest).
yesterday I didn't have time for a run, so I decided to run my 2 mile loop as fast as I could - my best time of 14:01 min miles (darn that 1 second!). I also learned a new interval training, I call it the doggie-go-back interval. My usual 15:30 min/mile pace my 10 year old stubby-legged dog can keep up, faster and he can't. So, 4 times during the run I doubled back and let myself slow down a bit until I found him, then turned around again. This added just over 0.3 miles for a total of 2.35 mile run.
Good day, and I think the doggie-go-back intervals are going to work for all, I was afraid I'd have to leave him at home when running farther/faster, and he'd hate that.