Get these cobwebs out of here!

You know that weird, awkward moment that inevitably happens when you bump into a friend whose calls you've been avoiding for 6 months? That's this moment.

Now that I've taken a 6 month (seriously?) hiatus from running, I'm happy to be back. It's not as if I haven't done anything active (I've lost 35lbs, in fact!), I just haven't been running. And I realize that perhaps I should have just written about my lack of running, but I was... ashamed. I've been inspired by some incredible folks in the blogosphere, and I couldn't bear to show my (non-running) face around here and bear the ridicule of taking 6 months off. But I did. I took 6 months off, and where I used to be able to run 8 miles, now I can only run 2 (I think). I put my half-marathon aspirations on the shelf. I was warded off running by snow and ice and cold weather and... I admit it... laziness. I am not proud. I hang my head in shame.

Now that all of that has been said, however, I'm glad to announce that I did go for a run on Friday, and it was a HUGE success. I went out for a run with SoxFan and Ini the DogBeast on Friday morning and ran a quick (for me) 1.5 miles.

My ability to run this measly 1.5 miles was a huge surprise to me. I anticipated being able to run ~100 yards, which is as far as I could run about a year ago, when I first began trying to become a "runner". This time out, I ran an easy (seriously, I could have done more without much pain at all) 1.5 miles at 12:30-13:00 pace!

I know, I know... you thought I said "quick" right? Well, just you ease up there. That's faster than I was able to run 6 months ago, when I could run 8 miles! It's called Slow Girl Running for a reason, after all.

As I was running, I realized that there were lessons I learned 6 months ago that have stayed with me: I've learned how to control my breathing, which is essential in continuing the run. I've learned how to differentiate muscle annoyances from real pain. I've learned that if I focus on something other than running, I can actually go quite a bit further than I thought.

If all goes well and this anti-nausea medicine continues to take effect, I plan to head out for a run this evening, as well. Maybe this time I'll make it 2.5 miles.

It feels good to be back.