It has been brought to my attention that I haven't posted here since before my birthday... May just got really busy, and by the time things slowed down, I had just really gotten out of the habit of writing. But now that summer is here, I suppose I should get back to it.
Unfortunately, I don't have anything all that exciting to report. I haven't been racing at all lately, partially because it was getting too expensive, but mostly because I got a little burnt out on it. It just became way too much, and I needed a break. So now I'm just running to run, and I'm hoping to feel back up to some shorter races (maybe 5K or 10K) by the end of the summer.
The one thing that racing does give me is a destination; I'll admit that when I don't have a specific goal on the horizon, my running can become really sporadic, and I'll end up not running as often or as far as I'm capable of. This definitely happened to me in May and June, but I think a big part of the problem was the treadmill. I've always loved the treadmill, but lately it seems to be my worst enemy. I used to be able to run five or six miles at a time on the treadmill, and now I find myself bored to tears at the two-mile mark. It got to the point where I was giving my mind more control than my body and stopping when I had so much more left in my legs but just couldn't stand the monotony.
So I've moved outside (what a novel idea, right?)... I mean, this is California, after all. It's summer and the weather has been gorgeous. The area I live in is VERY hilly, though, so I've only been running moderate distances- about 3.5 to 4.5 miles at a time. But it's wonderful. I'm discovering that I'm a lot stronger and a lot faster than I believed (isn't that always the case, though?), and instead of focusing on running long distances three times a week (which is what I've always done in the past), my goal for July is to run moderate distances more often. I'd really like to be running 5K-10K five times a week by the end of the summer. I've got my Nike+ system to help keep me on track- believe it or not, I'm approaching the 400-mile mark on that thing- and I'll just trust that me feet are going to take me where I want to go. Happy running!
