I have to keep reminding myself of the progress I have made, rather than beating myself up because of perceived poor performance.

In the last 8 months I have changed from someone who found a 10 minute brisk walk (4 mph) tiring and painful to someone who can jog (6 mph) for over an hour without a break. And yet, despite the achievement of hitting 10km, I am disappointed that the pace was so low.

A year ago I would have been stunned at what I can do today, and yet today I want to be something I could never have dreamed of – and that is a runner, not just a jogger.

What is the difference? Well, the difference between the two is very loose and fuzzy. FitSuger says it is a 9 minute mile. In “Beginner’s Running Guide” by Hal Higdon, he says an 8 minute mile. The rec.running FAQ says “the people I pass are joggers and the ones who pass me are runners.”. Another quote from there is that a jogger is someone who worries about the difference.

So, perhaps I should forget it, call myself a runner after all and just set myself a fitness goal instead.

In that case, I want to have a cardio capability that is classed as “Fair” and Running for Fitness defines that as having a VO2MAX of around 35.0, which would mean me doing a 10km run in 56 minutes, so that is my next goal.