This is it...this is the year I start working to be fast like I used to. The last few years I had been working a difficult job that required overnight hours. Needless to say, physical activity was hard to keep up because I was asleep most of the days. The job ( I was a mental health/ drug and alcohol counselor) was rewarding and I helped a lot of people through their darkest days, but being in inpatient treatment left me feeling burnt out. I am in the process of rethinking what I want to do in life and its exciting to think about all the options I have and all the things I could do!

In the meantime I'm using my extra energy to train harder. I've always been terrible at running distance, which to me is anything over a 5k. In high school my track  PR's were:

                                                                         400m - 52 seconds

                                                                         800m - 2:03

                                                                         Mile - 4:50

I used to be pretty fast! I weigh 210 pounds right now (my usual weight) and I am naturally a sprinter, so upping my mileage has been challenging to say the least. I didn't run all winter, so I've only been back at it for a month now. On April 23 I won 2nd place in the Clydesdale Division at the Spank Blasing 5k in Pueblo. I also ran the CherryCreek Sneak 5 Miler, but I mistakenly did it on badly worn out running shoes and I hobbled/ jogged the last 2 miles due to shin splints and ankle pain. I still finished at an average pace of 8:10 per mile.  I got some new trail running shoes from Colorado Running Company recently and just completed the Greenland 8 mile in 1h 12m. I was on pace for 1h 06m  about half way through, but I couldn't hold it due to the distance being a bit long for me yet. Oh well.

I am planning to run the 10k Run To The Shrine race on the 21st of this month. I am training hard for it and am looking forward to seeing how it goes!