As many of you know, I was wretchedly unwell for the majority of January and the first bit of February. Good news: I’m feeling way better and I’ve started my running regime again! Monday was my first day and I started out strong by running for a half hour and ending with a distance of 2.5 miles. I felt great, my breathing wasn’t huffy in any way (fabulous considering my hereditary sports asthma), and I wasn’t getting tired mentally or physically. The only thing that was bothersome were my blessed hips which are going to hurt no matter what, run or not! Today I went again and was feeling pretty good so I decided to push the bar a little bit and thought maybe I’d run a little longer, but when I started on the treadmill I was feeling so motivated and decided that I would run for 40 minutes. For the first five minutes, I run 4.6 miles per hour and then for the rest of it I run 5 miles per hour. It’s not very fast, but it works for me for now. When I got to 35 minutes, I decided I want to run 3.5 miles and so I had to increase my speed and I ended up running for 41.5 minutes and I made my goal of 3.5 miles. I feel good, the only exception being the curse of my easy-to-blister big toe. I’m going to see what kind of 5Ks and 10Ks are here in Denver on Saturdays. Obviously I can run a 5K, but it’ll be fun to compete and have something to work towards. Whenever I get back into my Aasics I always wonder why I ever stopped.

What do you do to motivate yourself to get out there and exercise? I would love some tips and tricks. Right now I’m going to set a certain amount of miles and once I run that I can get a new running top. Still haven’t decided how many miles is fair!

PS: I picked up a runners’ magazine and it was so motivating and I learned a lot! I might even get a subscription. I totally recommend just picking one up at the grocery store if you’re into running!