For the past little over a week I’ve been finally getting back into the habit of running. Since the 13th I’ve gone out six times. It has been rough and a little disheartening as I looked back to just a year ago and where I was compared to now.
On July 19th 2014 I did a 5 km run with a pace of 4:55 min/km. This year on July 19th the best I could push was 3.55 km with a pace of 6:48 min/km. Not very impressive, but I’m working on it. My plan is to get back up to 5 km and then increase my pace and work up distance from there.
To help motivate myself I also signed up for the 10 km race as part of the Valley Harvest Marathon. Last year I did the 10 as well but when I registered I was already in good running shape. That was the beginning of going down hill for me. Before the race I pushed myself in training and had hurt my knee. It was fine for the race but I was not at the top of my game.
This morning I was able to push myself to run 5 km. I did the exact same route as the above one but with a pace of 7:12 min/km. There were a few walking breaks mixed in there and I was in pretty rough shape at the end.
Most nights for the past week as well my wife and I have been getting out to go for a walk. Nothing huge but about 1-3 km. It’s a great way to wind down the day and have some time alone to chat.
So now that I’ve shelled out some cash to enter the race I can’t look like an idiot when I get there so I’ll have to train. I have about 3 months to get there. It’s the day right before I leave for our company meetup so that means I’ll hopefully be in good enough shape to head out on runs with coworkers there too. I can’t wait!
Sandy McFadden 