My new slow

I went for a short run tonight. Just 2 miles because I haven't ran in a while and because on my build up to the 8K it is a good starting point. One of the reasons I haven't been running is because I have been doing a workout program at home that works my whole body instead of just my legs. Running this past year has definitely helped my lower body but I want to work everything so I decided to take a little time to focus on the rest while I can and then in a few months I will focus on running more again as we begin training for the Princess.

Anyway, back to tonight's run, I wasn't excited about it since I haven't ran in a while and it is HOT. It was still 90 when I went out at midnight. I knew I wasn't going to be my best but I was going to do the best I could given the temps and my aching ankle. I am pretty sure it is just an arthritis flare up but it is enough to be uncomfortable after a while. I decided to take it easy and just go back to my trusted 1/1 intervals. I decided pretty early on that I really love doing one minute intervals. It just feels right. It is long enough to get a good run stretch in but not push too far and long enough to get a good recovery without slowing down too much. I used RunKeeper to track my run. It was pretty much for the time because I knew how many laps of the neighborhood I needed to hit my two miles but I also like being able to see my instantaneous pace while I am looking at the graph after my run. 

During my run I felt slow, but at the same time, I could tell I was faster than I used to be. I started thinking about the fact that my old "fast" may be my new "slow." I walked a few intervals that were supposed to be runs and my five minute warm up was included in my time so there was more walking than running during my two miles. Even with all of that, I was shocked with the average pace I saw when I was finished. My old fast is not my new slow, my new slow is a minute and a half FASTER than my old fast.

It gives me hope and makes me realize I am doing things right even though sometimes it feels like I'm not. I'm still not seeing a big drop on the scale but at least I know that my body is getting better even if I don't see the results. It is hard still to hear that my dad has lost 50 pounds in 5 months by just changing his diet and I have been eating better and working my ass off and I have to fight for every pound. Don't get me wrong, I am super proud of him and glad he is getting healthy, but it is still hard when I look at how hard my journey has been.

I know I am making progress and I have faith that I am going to see bigger changes soon. It fans that fire in me a little more to keep going and not give up, because believe me, in the last few weeks, I have seriously considered giving up. I will get healthy and I will become the woman I want to be.