After laying dormant for two months, I got back out on the pavement today. For most of the day it was way too hot to do anything (90 degrees in April?!!), but by evening it had cooled into the 70s. I set out on an easy 1 mile loop through the neighborhood, not pushing too hard, and stopping to walk for a bit here and there.
I could have kept going -- cardiovascularly, I felt great -- but I have to be cognizant of what caused the two-month lay-up in the first place. Two months ago, in preparation for the 10 Miler, I hurt myself by doing too much too soon. My heart, lungs and muscles (once I solved the tight calf problem) might have been ready for a 70 minute jog, but my bones weren't. Suddenly I was able to run as long as I wanted -- but my feet couldn't take it.
But today, there was no pain. And with no Mandatory Distance Goal on the horizon, I'm just going to work up to 30 minutes and keep it there for a while. I'll head out every other day, and I'll aim on getting faster within those 30 minutes. I think a sub-30 minute 5K is a worthy goal -- one that I was only last able to accomplish about 5 years ago.
