Let’s talk about my favorite subject , besides Jesus, of course, running! I honestly wasn’t sure if I was going to run this year or give it up and become a hiker or couch potato. The year started off so badly, and last year wasn’t exactly great as far as my running, I thought maybe I would just stop trying to find time to train for races, by myself, with various health issues and blah blah blah. Whine!  But , no, I really do NEED running in my life. And I am somewhat competitive , in my age group, so I don’t want to just go and walk races or come in last. Not for now , anyway. I am not judging anyone who is perfectly content to be last! I applaud every runner, especially the last one. But some of the races have very strict time limits and are not really for back of the packers. So, back to the grind I go!

I’ve been working on building up my mileage. Last weekend some family things and a Texas-sized thunderstorm messed up my long run plans, so today I went and ran 10 miles in town. That was the first time I’ve done that since November 28 of last year! I’ve run long trail runs and long races since then, but no hilly road runs like I do in town. And, well, I sucked. I am not in hilly road run shape anymore! I’m in slow trail run shape. Or short road run shape. But you have to start somewhere , right? So I figured 10 miles, double digits, would be a good goal. Honestly I could have done more but I was pretty tired , so I stopped at my van and called it good. It felt really good to have that done! I listened to some very informative podcasts on my run and the time went by pretty fast.

Trail Running Women is a great podcast. Click here for iTunes.

Looking over my Strava log, I see that I did ramp up quite a bit in the past week, so I will probably rest tomorrow just to be safe. I used to be able to run so much, but my hormone changes have really impacted my need for recovery. I need more! The last thing I want is to get injured again or have an adrenal crash.

So my goals for the next couple of months are to get stronger, reclaim my previous easy mile pace of sub 10 on short runs and 10:30 on a long run, and hopefully drop a couple pounds of belly fat.  But I can be happy at this weight if my body refuses to let go of the cushion. I am going to keep doing push-ups and small hand weights and the stretching/warm-up routine. Foam rolling and yoga stretches save me from trips to the chiropractor !  My only issue right now is my new shoes hurt my feet. Why is it so hard to find the right shoes?

As for races, at this time I only have one scheduled in August and one in  September, both 50k trail races, but I may add more. I want to wait and see if we are going to have a super rainy ( floods)  Spring or Sunspot level heat for Summer. I can sign up at the last minute for most races. I also hope to do more hiking before it gets much hotter. It was 85 degrees here a few days ago. Ugh. But I have to get used to it because I’m running a race in August!  So for now, I will just build up my weekly mileage and work on consistency. Life is still fairly uncertain and I am just praying that God is going to make it all work out, all glory to HIM!

P.S. I am considering taking a life coach certification course. This is basically what I have been doing for most of my adult life, for FREE. It would be great to get paid for helping people work through their mental obstacles and guide them to success! I’m also considering offering my services as a running coach. I am not certified, but I think I have enough knowledge and experience.

Happy Running!

This is a very good warm-up  routine.