I’ve been in a personal running rut lately. I’ve been running, but not at my normal pace and not with any regularity. Aside from the 10K mentoring I’ve been doing, I haven’t gotten any runs in purely for myself.

Until today.

I ran five glorious miles in the 90 degree heat and all by my lonesome. It was amazing.

Once I settled into the first mile, it was golden. My brain shut off. It was heaven.

Until the fourth mile. There is always one mile, usually in the middle, that plays mind games with you. And for me, it’s happens after my comfort zone of 3 and before I settle back in at 5. So mile 4 was a tough one.

But I finished strong, and under an 11 minute mile average pace. Not quite as good as my former race pace. But it felt good to push it today. There were times when I felt absolutely alive and aware of my body and my breathing.

Plus I’ve been doing a lot of running with other people, which is always nice. Sometimes I just need to go out alone and run. And today was one of those days. I craved the solidarity. So glorious.

And my dinner wasn’t too shabby either.

Apple chicken sausage with pepper and onions, a baked sweet potato and a huge side salad with avocado and tomatoes. Day one of meal planing was a huge success.

I just wish I had some chocolate milk for dessert.