Back and Better Than the Old Me

I'm back.

I was starting to lose hope that I would recover my desire to run after a hectic 3/4 week layoff. Law school orientation was hectic (to put it very mildly), followed by a bout of a stomach flu and family issues/events. There's certainly good news and bad news, so let's start with the bad:

1) Law school is unreal. 

2) Law school takes up a lot of time

3) I have since lost about a minute on my average pace.

Law school aside (as there's nothing to be done but simply survive), the lay off has certainly affected my average pace. I wanted to be closer to 10:00. Now I'll be closer to 11:00. It's still under the 16:00 pace requirement, but I could've been so much better. I can't make it up by the 29th, but I can make strides (ha!) by November's HM in Melbourne (yes, I am choosing to do a HM as my birthday gift... weird, right?). 

Now the good news:

1) HITO IS DOING AWESOME!

2) New sneakers could be in my future!

3) My injuries have subsided!

First, my Hito is doing AWESOME. We had the MRI- it came back CLEAN! The genetics test came back clean too! Not only that, but he's been standing on his own and walking with assistance. I cried when I saw him stand on his own the first time, I have to admit. We most likely will have additional (and still unpleasant) testing this year, but the bad, bad stuff has been mostly ruled out. I cannot express my gratitude to God and my family for this- it is a blessing indeed. I now run with much less tears. 

2) My treads are going. After doing the 10m race, I'm hoping that I can convince Fireman for new sneakers from the fancy running store. Wide, please, as my feet are still big from pregnancy (and didn't get smaller like the rest of me did). What brand? I have held to Asics mostly, but Newtons? No, they're too pro for me...

3) Not running was pretty awesome for my legs. My IT band recovered that when I ran this weekend (5), the pain didn't kick in like usual and still hasn't. My shin splints are a little there, but no where near what they were. I did 3.15 last night without any major issue today other than the need to stretch my calves. 

So, I'm back. I ran mostly without headphones- I'm glad I preserved that ability during my sabbatical. I now run through law school stuff in my head (like conveyances and case briefs). It helps in a weird way. I really need to turn my attention to property (relations among co-tenants), so I will end here. Just wanted to note I'm back and I'm motivated. 

Until the next run.