A 7 a.m. run

For the first time in about forever, I ran at just after 7 a.m. I was playing airport taxi this morning, and I could not see myself going back to bed at around 7 a.m. when I got home. Plus, most importantly, I was way overdue for a run.

I ran the same route I did almost three weeks, but it went decidedly better this time. I finished the about 2.6 mile run in just under 28 minutes, which was a little faster than I did last time, and I felt better overall. In fact, I started out at pretty nice pace, unlike how I ran right out of the gate last time. And I did not have to walk at the end, even though I was hating that uphill ending. It was also less humid, and it was probably just under 70 degrees, which are pretty good conditions for a late July run.

I still am unsure when I will run that elusive 5k. I have a couple in mind, one in August and one in September, but I am not sure that I have trained enough for either. But if I can step it up a bit, I may be okay.

The first couple minutes are the most difficult

For the first time since probably 2002, I ran around my neighborhood, which is actually hillier than my normal route near my kid's school. Unlike that route, this run started off pretty flat. And, yet, from the get-go, I still felt as if I was not going to be able to run more than a few minutes.

I blame the heat, mostly. It was a hot 75 degrees at just after 10 this morning. Although it did not feel super humid, the sun was beating down. But I think age has something to do with the challenge. When I was training to run the Steelers 5k in 2006, I ran once a week for about six weeks. That was all I needed to do, at age 34 1/2, to get ready for that race. I don't recall feeling a drop off from week to week, and I did just fine in that race, finishing in just under 30 minutes.

But now that I am four years older, each run seems a little challenging. To be fair, I did not run at all last week, so I probably lost a little fitness. Although the bench stepping was quite difficult and a pretty good workout, it was not the same as running for at least 30 minutes non stop up and down hills.

To my credit, I do keep going. Since I started running again about 10 months ago, I have never stopped, at least not that I recall, without running at least two miles. Today, I ended up stopping at probably a little more than that, because the hill was just too much for me. So twice up that hill, I walked for at least 30 seconds. Sometime this week, I will drive the route I ran to see how much distance I covered. I am guessing about 2.5 miles. Since it took me almost 30 minutes, I will be pretty disappointed if it is not at least that, though I do have to consider the minute-plus of walking plus bigger, longer hills.

I guess I just need to keep at it.