Back after a bit of rest

Miles: 3.1
Pace: 10:07

After the race last week, I decided to take it easy for a little while. My right knee had been hurting a bit, so I thought I should rest it. I went for a very easy 1-mile jog last Monday to loosen things up, since my calves were very tight, but besides that, I was a total couch potato last week. I freely admit that even though the rain stopped and the weather was sunny and more beautiful than it had been all spring, I sat inside watching movies while drinking tea and eating shortbread cookies. And you know what? It felt pretty good.

Today I was ready to get back to running, though. I figured that I'd take it easy; although, if I wanted to treat myself well I would have warmed up and stretched. (I didn't because it looked like it was about to rain, and I didn't want to waste time and get caught in a thunderstorm.) I felt pretty stiff and as if it had been 2 months since I ran rather than 1 week. I was also really surprised at how labored my breathing was. Sometimes I wonder if I do have exercise-induced asthma. The local family practitioner had told me in high school that I probably did, and he gave me an inhaler, but I didn't feel any different when I used it, so I stopped, and eventually, the more I ran, the easier it became to breathe, and I assumed that there was nothing wrong with me. Now I have to think that there is something out of the ordinary about my inability to breathe while running. I noticed in last week's race that I was wheezing at mile 1 the same way the runners around me were wheezing up the hill at mile 3. Yes, it gets easier for me to breathe as my fitness improves, but compared to runners of similar fitness levels, I sound like a chain smoker.

Anyway, it was still a good run. The day was beautiful and the air was not too hot or humid. If my schedule goes according to plan, I'd like to go for another short run tomorrow.