Summer progress

I took the first half of this year off from regularly running, so starting back up at the beginning of June was almost like starting from scratch. At least physically – mentally I know everything I need to do, but my lungs and legs have needed time to catch up.

So for many weeks now, I’ve been mostly walking/running, with pretty abysmal final paces. This was okay with me for awhile anyway, especially considering how hot it has been. I wasn’t capable of running long or fast, and I didn’t really want to either.

This is slowly starting to change, and the handful of virtual races I have signed up for have really helped me to commit to goals to get better at running more and longer.
For the first time all summer, I really felt like I was finally seeing progress last week! It’s not much, but compared to how I was doing in June, and especially compared to what I was doing January-May – nothing – it’s a lot!

So last week I ran 3 miles under a 10-minute pace, then ran 2 miles at a 9:36 pace. And on Sunday, I ran 5 miles for my virtual race 8K (including a few walk breaks) under an 11-minute pace!

This is serious progress from where I started, and it makes me excited to keep getting faster and go longer once the Hades-level heat in Louisiana gets better (it was a heat index of 104 when I finished the 5-miler).

This week I didn’t get out to run yet until Wednesday, but I ran 4 miles at a 10:10 pace with just one short walking break.

I have done this so many times now over the last 10 years – I build up my conditioning and endurance, run regularly for a consistent amount of time, meet goals and feel accomplished… and then inevitably get in a slump where I don’t run much or at all. Then, when I finally get motivated to start running again, it’s like having to start all over. How many times will I do this?

I guess I should focus on the fact that I always come back to running and always start to see results again once I maintain some semblance of commitment and discipline, rather than feel disappointed in myself that I keep going through these slumps at all.

I suppose the most important thing is that 10 years later, I’m still doing this running thing, whatever it looks like in the moment, and I haven’t given it up for good. That is what counts.

Running Brings Us Together 5K

I got my virtual race packet in the mail Friday, so I set out to do my own personal 5K – officially called the Running Brings Us Together 5K (benefitting Girls on the Run) at 8 a.m. Sunday.

It has been brutally, terribly hot this two weeks. I have gone out to run usually in the late afternoons after work, and the heat index is usually above 100 degrees. It’s unfortunate that I’ve lost all conditioning and am now trying to regain it by run/walking in what feels like the bowels of hell.

But on Sunday morning it was about 78 degrees, with a heat index of just a little over 80, so it was much more manageable. It was still super humid which caused a lot of sweating, but I could deal with it.

I haven’t run 3 miles straight in, oh, seven months – my “running” the past month has included a lot of walk breaks. For my virtual 5K, I ran 2.4 miles straight before taking a walk break on an uphill climb. I was breathing a bit heavy at that point because of the humidity, and it seemed like a good idea to catch my breath.

After I hit 3.1 miles, I stopped my watch and then walked about .3 back to my car. I posed with my medal for a picture as if it was a real race 🙂

Not a good time at all, but since my paces have been 11-13- minutes per mile thanks to walking a lot, this was something to build upon as I try to work my way back to no walking at all.

Doing a virtual race was a nice motivator to run more, and I would like to do another one next month that’s a little longer as another way to challenge myself. I’ll probably forego buying a T-shirt next time to knock the price down a little, too.