First pre-work run today. Finally I managed to get out the door before work, and not fall for the "too busy" excuse I've had for the last 3 years.....  The same 5 mile loop, a little cooler as it was still overcast. Started creaky but after 1/2 mile felt a bounce in my step for the first time in a long while. Ended up being a great run (relatively speaking). Ran strong thru the first 3 miles and the last two were a little more of a slog but still managed to keep a steady pace.  Progress over the last few months now looks like this......

Slow, but steady progress

Still plodding along. Ran my standard 5 miler yesterday and getting a little faster. Still slow, but now actually running the whole way, no walk breaks, no stopping to look at the view. If I can keep this up and get out there 4-5 times/week things should start to move a little more quickly (hopefully!).

Here's the mile times for 3 runs from June, July and August. In June you can see it all went to crap after 2 miles, In July I could drag slowly thru miles 3-4, but now it's pretty constant throughout. Each of these was at about the same average heart rate, but with much less "standing around waiting for traffic" time in the recent run.

Benchmark Run - some signs of progress

So my standard, benchmark run has always been a loop from my house that is about 5.2 miles. When I was in shape this was my easy recovery run, or for times when I didn't feel like "really running" - Just a simple 5 miler at 7:30-8:00 minutes/mile.

Now it has become my challenge run - for when I'm feeling like going for it! So today I decided it was a challenge day. Goal was to do the full 5+ miles without stopping or walking except at the water fountain after 3.5 miles. So I set off, hoping for lots of traffic at the crossings.....

Last time I ran this was on June 5th. That was a real slog - lots of walking and an average pace (excluding stops) was 10:38. Today was 9:37, so a full minute faster in about 2 months - and HR was the same at 157 average. Not too bad in terms of progress, but still a long way from where I need to be.

Data......

This is a slog

2 weeks later, and this still sucks.  Lost about 5 more lbs, trying to run every other day, but finding too many excuses to skip a day. Still really slow, things ache. A long way from any semblance of comfort, enjoyment or speed. Hopefully next 2 weeks are better, but I somehow doubt it, especially as one of them will be in Mexico.

Not So Bleak?

OK, inspired by all of this I looked more closely at the GPS from my recent runs. 

If I take out stops for traffic & lazy-ass walking most running was 9 something pace, so not quite as bad as I thought. Further inspired by that I went for a run, and instead of running on roads where I have to stop all the time (which is a good thing given my fitness), I ran the 1/2 mile to the high school track and just ran for 5K.

Started out at a reasonable pace and tried to just keep going.  Ended up running it at just under 9 minute pace. So I think getting to 8 minute pace (25 mins) in 8 weeks in a race should be doable if I just get back to running regularly. 

Of course, I will probably wake up tomorrow injured.

A New Beginning

Pretty sure I've made this exact post before but here goes......
...35 lbs heavier than when I was my fastest
...my fastest was never that fast
...haven't run over 25 miles/week in 4+ years
...have only run 37 miles this entire YEAR
...haven't seen an 8:XX mile in at least a year
...Last run was at 11:43 pace
...Old
...Lazy

If I extrapolate these numbers forward I am going to be 250 lbs and completely sedentary before I'm 60, which isn't part of the plan, so it's time to get back to running. I've said this 20 times over the last 6 years, so to help I have signed up for a race.

Race #1 - 5K race (corporate work thing, so high embarrassment potential) in 8 weeks. Suckered into signing up. Gonna suck for sure. Was thinking I could drag my ass to a 25 min finish (~8 min miles) but looking at my current fitness, reviewing my progress when I first started running at age 40, and getting some input from some of the running message boards I think that is highly unlikely. Reset goal to running vs walking, and not puking in public.

Race #2 - Half marathon in October. This is really for my son (17 year old, fit, fast soccer player, natural athlete). He wants to do a marathon before college, so I'm helping him transfer his natural speed and soccer fitness (and youth) into a reasonable marathon time. I promised to run "with" him in the races. No way I am keeping up, so goal will be to finish before they pack up the beer tent.

Race #3 - Marathon in the spring. TBD.

Thinking about this it looks like 8 minute pace might be a target for me to strive for.....
1) Run an 8 minute mile. Seems easy, but I bet I couldn't do it right now
2) 25 minute 5K
3) 50 minute 10K
4) 1:45 Half Marathon
5) 3:30 Full Marathon

They all seem like achievable goals I can get behind, assuming I can shed some pounds (Tough to run carrying 35 lbs of anything), and not get injured. So let's see how this goes!

Edit: Just to clarify, I don't think those 8 minute pace goals are achievable in the next race (i.e the 5K in 8 weeks), just that they are achievable in this iteration of my running life