As much as I want to quite literally hit the ground running, my runs as of late have been nothing short of slow and kind of miserable.



My quads have ached with every run and my lungs burn after less than a mile.

I am completely out of running shape.

I guess six weeks in an air cast will do that to you.



But still, it's hard to think that just a few months ago, I was banging out 20 milers without a problem and now I struggle through three.

The first few weeks I was cleared to run, I only ran once per week. Slow and steady, nothing longer than three miles. I wanted to ease myself back in.

This past weekend, I did two things I haven't done in a while. I ran two times in three days, and I did a "long" run of five miles.



And I'm so happy to say, I felt no foot pain on either run. Sure my quads and calves were tired and sore, and the five miler was full of walk breaks, but nothing hurt!

I could do a happy dance. (Actually I might have done one in my kitchen Sunday afternoon when I got back from the run...)

I know I still have a long way to go until I'm back to where I was, but I'm so encouraged that I can at least slowly start to increase my distance.

It's humbling to go slowly and sucking wind so badly, but it's steps in the right direction!