A year and a few days ago, I had the absolute best race of my life. I finished the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler in a few seconds over 1:04, which equated to 6:24 per mile for ten miles.<br/><br/>Today, I ran 3.1 miles. The weather was great, I was feeling the best I have felt in months, but it was clear I’ve lost a ton of fitness. I didn’t get a time as I’m attempting to train back up without a clock guiding me every second of the way. I haven’t run with a watch in a LONG time. Eventually, I plan on starting one when I leave the house [and leaving it there], and stopping it upon my return. Or I’ll program my GPS to not show me the time… All I know is I want the clock to dictate how I feel and instead have how I feel dictate what the clock says at the end.<br/><br/>By my estimate, I could likely run around a 21 minute 5k (7:00 per mile) if I had to. It wouldn’t be smart, and would likely set me back a bit, but I could likely do it. Long strides are still an issue as my right hamstring continues to recover.<br/><br/>I have a marathon scheduled in the Fall, but at this point it’s looking pretty bleak; I’m not running a marathon just to run a marathon… I want to run it fast.<br/><br/>I’ve been running at most three times a week for the past month or two, but usually more like one or two. I could likely do more, but I feel that if I’m making improvement in the pain department, I should continue doing what I’m doing.<br/><br/>Sooo… That’s all I’ve got, I suppose. I’m still not considering myself a runner there days, but today’s outing was very promising that more mileage is just around the corner.<br/>