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.