Day one of my new start! Before now, I was running 3 miles or less about three times a week at a 10:00/mile to 11:00/mile average. No warm up, no stretching, no core, rarely a Garmin. I made up courses as I went along, and then guessed the distance or measured it in my car.
Today, I tried pushing the pace a little bit instead of just putting along. I got pretty dizzy, but never to the point where I thought that I would pass out. It was hard to try to keep pushing the pace while feeling so awful, but at the same time it felt so amazing to be out there pushing again! To be dripping sweat and pushing through on raw determination and adrenhaline. To hit a downhill and feel like I was flying. Even with the pain, it was so amazing. I wish that, back when I didn't have to deal with any of the diabetes, hypoglycemia, and anemia stuff, I would have realized how great I had it. I wish I would have realized that shin splints and tendonitis really aren't that bad. I wish I would have done a better job of just soaking every mile in and realized how lucky I was! But, I know that I am still lucky because, despite everything, I CAN STILL RUN.
5k distance on Freedom--Eccles loop. 28:09 total time and 8:55/mile average. Not great considering the fact that this exhausted me and that six months ago my easy pace was a full minute/mile faster than that, but it is a definite improvement from where I've been lately. I am going to keep running that distance and pace everyday for the next couple of weeks until it starts to become "easy" again, and then I will try slowly building up a little bit of mileage. | 