Back in the right track!

From time to time, I write a little bit about my running plans and performance:
- October 2008
- October 2007

After coming back from the Fulbright Seminar in New York City, I have started running seriously again. Last year, I used to run quite a lot and I got a good training balance. Just before Christmas, I used to run more than 10km three times a week. However, the effect of nice Spanish food during Christmas feasts (those were not normal dinners...) on my weight and inactivity during a really hard academic term at Caltech, made me stop running for a while. From last Tuesday, I have gone running almost everyday and I am a bit surprised about the progression.

I ran last Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and yesterday. That is 5 days out of 7. At the beginning, feelings were bad. The first day, I just ran in the streets for 2.5 km and had to take a break and go to the gym to run a little bit more in the running machines... However, little by little, I have been feeling better and better and the last three times, since last Thursday, I have been running 5.5 km regularly. The times are also improving. The first time I completed those 5.5 km, it took me almost 30 minutes. Next day, around 26. Yesterday, it was the best day. I ran 6.4 km in 24min 10 sec. That means 3min 46sec /km which is pretty nice!! So far, I have been trying to go as fast as possible to be in good times quickly. Now, I have reached the times I wanted to get, and it is time to start running longer.

Another good thing, and which I was pretty concerned about, is that my legs are not complaining too much. Of course, the first days were really bad: some cramps, tired... the typical things after a 3-month inactivity period! However tired I felt, I kept on working and as you may know, the pain disappears if you run regularly. Or maybe you just get used to it!! Now, as I am writing, I feel no much pain.

So... from today on, I will start training distance. I do not want to loose speed, so from time to time, I will try running 5.5 km as fast as possible. Today, I have planned to run 8.25 km, which I consider doable. If everything goes fine, I will try to increase it and start running 11 km regularly before the weekend.

This time, I want to take it more seriously and start fixing some real objectives: I would like to run a half-marathon soon. If I can run around 15km several times a week, I guess it would not be too hard to run a bit more than 20km!! A more distant objective, and my real dream, would be running a marathon... but there are many intermediate steps before getting there, and now, it is not a realistic objective!! I will keep on the hard work though!!! :D

10.10pm: I am back from today's training. I ran 11 km in 49 min 39 sec!!