A bit of a disappointment tonight. After a lazy, restful, food-filled Memorial Day Weekend, my first run of the week felt labored and sluggish. I enjoyed the barbecue yesterday, but I paid for it today! I ran my standard mile, and clocked in at 9:21, eight seconds slower than Saturday's run, and seventeen seconds slower than Friday's run, which was my fastest mile time since I started running again.
I felt sluggish even before I started running, so I figured it was going to be a struggle tonight. It dawned on me that probably the biggest factor in these slow times I've been getting is my weight. As out of shape as I am, to be running miles in the 9 minute range is still surprising to me. But I'm weighing around 180 lbs lately, which is roughly 50 lbs heavier than when I set my PR of 5:28. Those extra 50 lbs are going to come into play. So I've got a couple of challenges ahead of me before I can expect to see significant drops in my mile time: I need to continue to condition myself, and I need to drop some pounds. Obviously those two things will help each other. I'm still struggling with my endurance, though it's getting noticeably better. Right now, breaking out of my old, sedentary lifestyle, is the hardest part. I'm not worried too much about what my times are; I'm just worried about becoming an adequate runner again.
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