I'm Back!

I'm back!

To running, that is. :).

I reached a personal milestone a couple of weeks ago, running just under 6k for the first time in more than a year. I've been running similar distances consistently several times a week since then.

I know that 6k is not much for many runners, but it is still a major milestone for me, after not having run at all for well over a year.  It feels so great to finally be getting back into it!

Running is one of my favorite things to do. There are the obvious physical and health benefits that come along with it. More important for me though is the way that running makes me feel. After I finish a good run, I feel like I am on top of the world. It is such a great, natural high. Running also clears my mind, and allows me to work out any stress or anxiety (which I am prone to).  It feels almost as if I have taken a shower on the inside, if that makes any sense.  I feel refreshed, energized, and at peace.

Given how I feel about running, you can imagine how disappointed I was to have to stop running when I started fertility treatments last spring.  It probably would have been fine to keep up with it through that process, but a then-recent loss had made me very paranoid. I just couldn't go through that again. So, I stopped running.  I might have picked it up again once I became pregnant, but as you know from reading this blog, my pregnancy ended up being very complicated and high risk. I wasn't able to walk around much, let alone run.

The fact that my pregnancy was complicated and stressful made me miss the release and calming effect of running that much more.  You know how some women miss coffee, wine, sushi, etc., while pregnant? I missed running. (And beer. Lol)

I was so, so happy to be able to get back into it postpartum.  Because I hadn't run at all for so long though, I had to start slowly, roughly following a popular couch to 5k training program.

And now, finally, I'm back. :)

My distances will obviously increase from here on in, as will my pace.  But it just feels so damned good to get in good runs again on a regular basis, even if I'm still a ways away from my personal bests.

That's it. That was the only point of this post.

So much of what I think, do and write about now is about my sweet Samuel. This post was all about me. And I'm okay with that. :)