Coming back! Slowly . . .

It's not surprising that my running progress is slow.  SLOW is the word most used to describe me! (I'm hoping that is used to describe my running but I'm not really so sure of that!)

Most people of average physical condition when walking purposefully can walk at around a 20 minutes per mile pace . . . 3 miles per hour.  Maybe a little slower when going uphill and a tad faster going down.  Sounds easy but to keep that up for 4-6 hours it's not a cupcake walk.

I've been "training" now since March 15th . . . about 7 1/2 weeks!  I started out running at a pace of about 15:30 per miles.  Running some and walking some but trying hard.  After running several minutes I'm running out of wind and just need to walk to recuperate.

Since I started back I have improved!  As the weather warms I'm trying to balance between the cool times of the day and the hottest time . . . and that makes a HUGE difference!  Those hot temps just plain kick my ass!!  But I'm thinking I benefit from these runs as much as the cool, faster runs.

Guess I should have put the word "faster" in quotes!!  I did a 3.1 mile run in cool temps at a 14:18 pace.  Definitely an improvement but not as big of an increase as I would have hoped.

It's weird!  A big part of me just plain doesn't care!  I'm getting more healthy.

• I'm losing some weight which had become a primary reason I started back. Sill a long way to go to get to my target but I'm seeing progress!
• I seem to have more energy.  I had become lethargic.  Just couldn't muster the desire to do many of the things I really needed to do.  I'm really glad this is improving! 
• My resting heart rate had increased.  Finally it's getting back into the 40s and I'm pretty sure it should get back to my "normal" high 30s and low 40s.
• I am able to run more in relation to my walking!  That is also improving but I still can't run a mile before I need to walk!

But . . . as a runner I do look to speed and endurance improvements to measure my progress.  And that is lagging what I had expected!

• I thought that by this time I could run a mile without walking.
• I had hoped I could average a 12:XX pace for 3 miles.
• I need to be adding in at least one long run a week . . . maybe more.  But that just isn't happening yet.
• I'm finding I'm totally out of breath when my heart rate hits about 130.  Hoping that will increase!  But the end of my runs that 130 comes pretty fast!

But overall . . . I'm in a way better place!  Really feeling good about running again and looking forward to I'm not sure what!!!