I'm back!

Nearly a year since my last post...

This morning, I dusted off my running shoes and went out and ran/walked around the house for about 30 minutes. I didn't time my intervals, but just walked one lap, then ran one lap. I did 17 laps in about 32:35 minutes, which works out to about 18 minutes per mile. Pretty slow, but I haven't run in ages and I just wanted to get out there and see how it felt.

The impetus for my return to running was a letter from the AIDS Marathon listing their summer programs: Florence, Italy (erm, no way), Honolulu, and the Disneyland Half-marathon. Now, Disneyland was one of the races I was considering running in last year, and I got myself all enthused about doing it this year. But the same problem remains -- there's a 3.5 hour time limit, and I'm not sure I can run a half-marathon in 3.5 hours. (That's 16 minute miles, which, considering today's run, are not at all assured.) And, I'm not sure I can afford the $1900 fundraising commitment, seeing as how I'm a lousy fundraiser and would no doubt end up paying for all of it myself.

Still, I'd like to do another marathon or half-marathon this year. So I decided to go ahead and start running three times a week for half an hour or so for a couple of months, then when May rolls around (AIDS Marathon training starts May 18), decide if I think I can manage the Disneyland half-marathon or if I'd rather go for broke and do another Honolulu marathon, and whether to do it with the AIDS Marathon or on my own (and just write out a big donation to AIDS Project LA or some other worthy cause).

Anyway, it felt good to be out there running again. I'm looking forward to getting back into it!