Running Revitalization

For about the past six months I have been slacking on my running.  Oh, I'd get a run in here or there, but there would always be an excuse as to why I couldn't run that day.  It might have been injury, illness, work, vacation, visitors, or dozens of other excuses, but it all resulted in me slipping.

As a result, my cardio conditioning has declined, and when I would run, it was damned hard.  It felt like starting over at the beginning.  While I was able to knock out a 5k in September, it wasn't a great run for me - hard, and slow.  Definitely worse than my run of it in the previous year.

During this time, Mrs. YDP has taken up running.  She's leveraging an app to take her from the couch to a 5k, and is progressing famously.  As her endurance and mileage have crept up, so have my concerns - is my wife going to be the runner in the family?  

With that, I've made a new commitment to my running as I want to be there with her when she gets to where ever she's going.  So with more running, less beer, and a hell of a lot less excuses, I'm getting back to where I need to be.  I was able to crank out 3 miles yesterday in a top ten time for me for the distance, so I am getting there.  Now, I had perfect conditions (40 degree temps, OK humidity, and absolutely no wind), likewise I'm pretty sore today as I pushed myself on my run, but it was the best run that I've had since May.

Which is a good thing - Mrs. YDP just got up to 2 1/2 miles, and shows no signs of slowing down.  Beyond her running results, she's also changing as part of this process.  Her body is clearly changing, her energy level seems higher, as does her confidence.  She's doing just awesome, and I'm so proud of her.  

Especially when you consider where we were exactly a year ago.