Would You look at All that Dust.

How exactly do you pick up a dormant blog and breathe new life into it? Well, I guess there are a few ways I could handle it. I could recap what I've been doing the past few months just go get everyone caught up. I could do that, but I don't think I'm going to. Instead, I think I'll just pick it up like I never left. I'm sure the suspense is just gonna kill so many of you. What has he been doing this year? Was he hurt? Did he lose motivation? No. I've been running, but just like anything, the enthusiasm has come and gone.

This past May was one of the more difficult months I've had from a running perspective. I had 2 marathons and a big relay race that I was trying to squeeze into a 5 week timeframe, and it was just too much for me. I was doing nothing but tapering, recovering, and racing. It ended on June 2nd, when I dropped out The Sunburst Marathon at mile 14. I don't know if it was the right decision or not. It's still something that I kind of question. However, what dropping out did was finally break the cycle. Since I did taper for a week prior to the marathon (not a full taper, but it was still something), and then only ran 14 semi-hard miles on race day, it only took a day or two to bounce back and finally get back into real training.

And that's where I am now. Yesterday was 8 miles at a slowish pace. Today was 18 miles. The goal was just to go out and run comfortably. I wore the Garmin, but I didn't want to check it very often, because, well, basically, I'm an idiot. I tend to race everything with that Garmin on. Somehow I need to check the ego and realize that there's nothing wrong with a 7 minute pace. Someday I'll figure it out…or I'll just leave the Garmin at home.

So today's 18 was a great run. It was an absolutely gorgeous day with temps in the 70s by the lake and a bright sun overhead. The wind was also perfect for me where I had a slight headwind for the first half of the run and got it at my back for the second half. That seems to work the best for me because the wind will keep me in check for the first half and then give me a hand for the second half. Anyway, the first 9 miles came and went very comfortably and I was shocked to look at my watch at the turnaround point and see that my average pace had dropped down to 6:26. By the end of the run the average pace had dropped all the way down to 6:12 with the last 5 of the last 7 miles under 6 minute pace. I'm not sure what got into me today. It was just one of those days I guess. Tomorrow will probably be a struggle to do anything at close to that pace. That's running. The lure of days like today is what keeps me coming back.

...and I promise to keep posting.