Boiling quicksand

It has been two weeks exactly since my last run.  Yes...I didn't run for two weeks!  That is NOT the consistency that I was aiming for.  But I got back on track today!  I went out this morning and ran!  I was scared!  I was nervous.  I was kinda dreading how it was going to go!  Yeah, yeah yeah....I was also kind of looking forward to the euphoric feeling when I was done also.

You see, I was totally expecting my pace to have disintegrated by a full minute or two.  Not that it matters.....because I'm doing this for fun and health....but admittedly I do want to set a PR at my next run.  I was seeing progress on my PR while I was running consistently....slow but steady progress.  So I was fully expecting to see that just fall apart.  I also knew that getting out there to run was the only way to halt any further loss of what I had accomplished!

I didn't have to work until 12 today so I fiddled around and didn't head out the door until about 7:30. I had absolutely no plans as to how far I was going to run.  ANY run would be a good one at this point. I started to run and wow.......my breathing immediately went wonky, my knees hurt and it just didn't feel good.  

I pushed on.  I knew that the only way to get past it was to run.  I crossed my fingers, hoped and prayed that it would pass and that it would get easier as I ran.  

I felt like I was a turtle slogging through peanut butter!

After the first half of a mile I ran by some honeysuckle.  Ohhhhh it smelled so good.  I almost wanted to lay down and sniff to my hearts content...but I was HOT!   I ran on and I decided my blog title for today would be Heated Honeysuckle.   Oh yes...what a good title!

At the mile mark I was pleasantly surprised to get my progress.  I ran my first mile  in 13:11 minutes.  Not anything fabulous for some runners out there.  But that is roughly where I've been running my miles.....even before the two weeks off.  (I was averaging low 13's the last week or two.....and my last run came in with an average of 12:45)   I was shocked!   I ran on, determined!

Have I mentioned it was hot?  It had to have been 90 degrees out there.  Seriously!  My hands felt like they were swelling with the humid heat.  I just wanted my ring off my finger.  In my mind I felt like it was cutting off the circulation in my hand.  I was sure my finger was turning blue and in danger of falling off!   Yeah....rings of blue was a good blog title.  Yeah, I would use that title for today's blog!  Much better than Heated Honeysuckle!

I ran on.  Dang it was hot!   Mile two passed and my pace actually improved by a few seconds.  I kept running.  I decided to do the short loop and call it a victory for the day.  It seemed like a wise plan.

I kept running....I knew that I was running at a pretty consistent pace and right where I have been running so I was happy but my word it felt like I was going slow!  It felt like I was going through quicksand.  My sweaty body kept running.  It was now not just quicksand...I was running through boiling quicksand!

I did it!  I arrived home, 2.5 miles done.  Decent pace.   And most importantly, back on track!!!!

Oh and the temperature when I checked?  74°.  I swear it was hotter!!!!!!  Humidity grabbed me today I guess!