July 6

Total time: 15 minutes

Total distance: 1.29 miles

I don't really have designated run days or designated days off – I just run when I have time, or when I feel like it. I've been pretty good about always lacing up the shoes and heading out regularly, but now that softball is over for the summer, I don't have to be quite so strict about my free time. Instead of cramming in a run whenever I can, I am at my leisure most evenings, and that means I can run when I want to.

Or, in this case, when I tell myself I need to.

Today was another frustrating run, mostly because I struggled to make it to fifteen minutes. I'd been doing so well up until now – I was getting to the point where twenty minutes was almost easy, or at least consistently attainable. Now, I was struggling to do anything past a mile. Sure, I could simply go out and run a mile every day and that would probably be okay, but it wasn't really pushing myself. Not like I'd been doing. In a way, I kind of feel like doing that race had a negative impact on me, even though the very reason I'd been out running so much was so that I could run in a race. IRONY. I wasn't expecting my progress to regress so much and it was definitely upsetting.

So now I am doing baby steps. I am starting back over and hoping to add five minutes to each run until I am back to being able to do 25-30 minutes consistently, and maybe someday even reach that 50-minute PR again. It doesn't help that I'm signed up for another 5K next weekend, which I am seriously considering Not Doing – I mean, I'll go, I've paid for it, but maybe I'll just walk it with a friend or something. We'll see how the next week or so goes. If it's anything like today, I don't know if I can run it.