I don’t know why I do this to myself. I have a good thing going and then I ruin it all by being a slug. Well, this summer I did it again, I stopped running. It was’t like last summer when I had a good excuse either.

It got too hot. The kids finished school. The routine went out the window. I have a million excuses for not running.

Lack of consistency is a common theme in my life that touches everything I do. For now, that’s neither here nor there.

I guess the important thing is that I’ve started back at it again. I’m running. Not far and certainly not fast but it’ll take time to rebuilt everything I lost in those months of doing little to nothing.

Every time I go out there I wonder why I stopped. I love to run. I love to be out there, just me, my music and the road. Dodging the occasional car, truck or cob of corn.

An actual cob of corn that came flying at me on a run.

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about why I don’t run and what I can do to make sure I don’t take these long breaks from something that I enjoy so much. Trying to come up with a solution to keep me out there even if it’s just for short little three mile runs.

The only thing I can come up with is to keep racing. I run all winter long, no matter the temperature or the frozen ice falling from the sky. Why? Because I’m training for my spring half marathon. Maybe if I always have something to be woking towards it will give me the drive I need to stay out there.

I participated in a few virtual races and they’re a fun way to keep me out there and increase my bling collection.

After my first virtual race, 10K.

I’m getting ready for my next virtual race next week then I’m thinking about doing a Thanksgiving virtual race since I’ll be out of town and not near any real races.

It’s not that I don’t love running, I truly do, I struggle with time and (sometimes) motivation. I’ve never regretted going out for a run but I really regret not getting out and hitting the road.

Are you a runner too? Do you ever struggle to get out there and log those miles?

It’s hard to believe that a year ago today I had my ankle surgery, it feels like so long ago that I was going through the pain and frustration. It’s been a hell of a year and while my ankle still feels stiff from time to time I’d say I’m fully recovered.

In the year since my surgery I’ve worked pretty hard. From the day I was cleared to start running again I dedicated myself to smart training and made a nice comeback. My first race back was the last race I ran before it all fell apart, the Philly Love Half Marathon. I trained hard (but smart) and I ran it hard scoring myself a personal record.

I didn’t stop with that one race though. I ran a virtual 10K, the Broad Street Run, a virtual 5 miler and a 5.3 mile charity race where I came in sixth place overall and was the second woman to cross the finish line.

Running isn’t the only thing I’ve been up to either, I’ve started kickboxing too. I have to say that I was really nervous about kickboxing. I was worried that I might kick the bag and ruin all the hard work the surgeon had done. I worried that one wrong step would put me right back where I was before. My ankle has held up as though there was never anything wrong with it.

When I look back at last summer and compare it to the summer we’re having now I have to smile. Last summer the kids didn’t get to do anything fun since I spent most of the summer laid up on the couch and all of the summer in the boot of shame. This summer this kids have gotten to go to camp and or vacation home in Maryland. We’ve been going out and doing things, having fun experiences. They even got a dog, but more on that later.

It was a loooooooong, hard road but I came out on the other side and now that I can sit back a year later and reflect on the experience, it was all worth it.

What you see above is all I have left to show for what I went through. Eventually I plan to put a tattoo there of a little runner girl running across what’s left of the scar.

I might even celebrate this anniversary with a nice run.