This morning I ran four miles. I haven’t really run much since the marathon. In fact, before yesterday, I had probably run four times total and that was well over a month ago since the Chicago Marathon.

I thought the miles might have been awful, but they were really good. I was actually even faster than what I normally was running pre-break. This got me to thinking that perhaps I should take a break more often.

I do take rest days, but not actually a break and “walk away” from doing things I enjoy. I had also been on a bit of a lifting break since before the marathon. I wish my strength gains hadn’t disappeared, but I fear they did once I got back to regularly lifting. Or I should say while I still can mostly lift what I had been lifting, I actually get sore now.

That is a little sad, but I always tell myself that being sore is just a sign my body is changing for the better. And I have been going pretty hard at trying to gain upper body strength because I don’t think I have any. The biggest thing I hate to have lost gains in is doing pull ups. One day those will get conquered.

Anyway, back to running. Two days in a row of doing some running and it has felt good. Even yesterday’s one mile felt fine after doing one of the hardest spin rides I have ever done. Guess a break from running was needed and clearly it was good for me as I feel quite refreshed running again after my break. Not to mention, I am anxious to put another 150 miles on my shoes so I can go buy some new ones. I have to get rid of the current ones because they annoy me. Not to mention they are pink. And maybe I will try taking some more breaks from running to get better at it next year. After all, I do have a year of speed to work on.