Vacation Blues

Distance: 1 mile
Time: 8:37

Tonight was my first run since last Tuesday. As I mentioned in my last post, my wife and I were venturing down to San Diego to get away for a few days. I was hoping to get a run in on the beach, or at the very least in Rancho Cucamonga while we stayed with my parents over the weekend. Neither of those things happened though. Our vacation ended up yielding no time to spare for a lengthy run (plus I would have felt bad leaving my wife alone at the hotel). And when we got back to Rancho Cucamonga, I lost the will to get out and run, opting instead to hang out at the house with my nephew Holden. Well, by the time we got back to our house in Apple Valley I was feeling pretty guilty. To be honest, I think the extra rest was good for my body, which had been hurting more than it should have been, and was thus preventing me from having any really good workouts anyway. But, rest also causes one to lose stamina and conditioning, and that definitely happened.

I ran only 1 mile tonight, mainly because I wasn't feeling motivated and I thought the shorter distance would get me out the door easier. Like I said, I felt more than rested, so I wanted to really give it all I had and not throw in a lackluster performance. The last time I ran a single mile, I clocked a 9:04. I definitely did not want a 9+ mile again. So I gave it all I had, but the extra time off really weighed me down. I felt too tired and sluggish. I was hoping for the low 8's, but I ended up with an 8:37.

I really need to get a solid routine going again. The months of May and June were great -- I didn't miss a single run, and it seemed like each run was better than the last. July, though, has been a month plagued by injury and busy-ness. I should be able to get my 5 runs in this week. And hopefully that will be my kick-start to push it into high gear again.