I meant to write a running check-in post half way through February, but I just never got around to it. And maybe it's good I didn't because the first part of the month started out a bit slow on the running front.

I only got in one run during the first week in February.

But each week since then I've hit my goal of three runs per week. That seems like such a modest goal compared to where my running used to be, but right now, I'm just excited that I'm building some consistency.



None of my runs in February were especially long or fast. My longest was a five miler last week. Most other runs were three miles with a handful of four milers thrown in.

A lot of my runs ended up being lunch time runs because I couldn't drag myself out of bed in the mornings. I know I'm most consistent when I run in the morning before the craziness of the day distracts me, but I was happy that even on the days I couldn't face either the cold temperatures or the early hours that I still ran at lunch.

I think the biggest improvement in my running this month is that easy runs sometimes actually feel easy. It's been a long, long time since I've been able to say that.

I've actually started thinking about some potential races too. A friend of mine loves the Crystal City 5K series in April, and that seems like it could be a fun way to get back into the racing world.

I'm also seriously considering the Baltimore 10 Miler in June. It's one of my favorite races because it's so well run (and because they give out really awesome swag). It would give me an excuse to gently increase my mileage over the next several months. But I'm a bit nervous to pull the trigger on registration because I've had such bad luck with injuries. So I'll probably see how things go for a bit yet before actually signing up.

It's definitely fun to start thinking about possible races again though. And as the weather starts to warm up and the days start getting longer, I'm hoping it will continue to get easier for me to fit runs in.