Nice start

3.5 miles - 9:21 pace
2.5 miles walking dogs - 15:12 pace (heee...)

I had been putting off going for a run for several reasons. 1.) I've been lazy. 2.) I was afraid to face how much progress I had lost from my race recovery and laziness. 3.) I've been lazy. My husband has gotten back into working out hard which has motivated me (partly due to competitiveness..."he can't out workout me!!!")to get off my rapidly spreading rear and start running again.

I went out yesterday full of apprehension. I just knew I'd be disappointed in myself not being able to run as fast and as far as before the race. And I only had myself to blame for that. I took too long off. I resigned myself to start by walking the dogs to get both them and me some exercise. "Let's see how that feels and then I'll decide to run or not." Partly in my defense, my knee has really been bothering me with these cold fronts moving in and I wanted to rest my hamstring pull from before the race to try and let it heal completely.

I took the dogs out for some much needed exercise and it felt great. We trucked through 2.5 miles and that just got my blood pumping. I decided to go out for a run. I just started at what felt like a comfortable pace. I looked down at Minnie after a few minutes and saw that a "comfortable pace" was 8:50! WHAT??!?!! Around 2 to 2.5 miles I started tiring and slowed down to 9:30 to finish out the run. I finished out the 3.5 miles and IT FELT GREAT. Ahhhhh...there was that runner's high that I missed. There was that sense of accomplishment. That feeling of bliss.

I was afraid I would wake up this morning sore from the run. Nope. Not a bit. So, I didn't lose as much as I had thought! Yipee! So, I'm now back, Baby! I'm back.

Now time to gear up for the Mardi Gras race!

Today I LOVE: lacing up my running shoes.