back in the saddle

Or so to speak. I guess it would be more accurate to say back on the mill. The treadmill that is. Since giving birth to sweet Daphne on October 2, I've had foot surgery to remove the neuroma in my left foot. It took a good 6 weeks of recovery to start running again after surgery. It was a slow start; combining running and ellipticalling for the first few weeks until I could finally build up to about 4-5 days of running a week. Currently I'm running about 25-30 miles a week and feeling pretty good. Still some aches in the feet but nothing like I had to deal with before surgery.

Today's run was glorious. I started doing structured speedwork a few weeks ago and since I'm still running on the treadmill most of the time, these days are my favorite. Today's run was 8x800 meter intervals at about a 10K pace. It's funny, since I have no idea what my 10K pace is, to even say that. I'm just guessing from perceived exertion level and also from about where I was 5 months post-labor with my first daughter.

Barry and I ran the Pints to Pasta 10K when Camille was exactly 5 months old and I ran a 46:xx. That comes out to be about 7:30 min/miles. So that's where I started. but today, I pushed the envelope a bit and did the 5 intervals somewhere between 7:19 and 6:53 min/miles. It felt great to lay it out like that. Especially the last 3 where I started quicker and held on to the sub 7s for longer. 7.2 miles total.

Currently I'm enjoying this quiet while Sweet Daphne sleeps. She's been down for an hour already and I know my time is coming to an end here.