How Many Restarts Will it Take?

Another encouraging sign the last two days, especially yesterday! I committed myself to purchasing new running shoes Wednesday thinking it would be an investment in motivating me to get my butt out the door, even though I thought there was a possibility that I would not be able to get even close to where I wanted to be with my running or walking and jogging. I don't know if it was the shoes, or the psychological boost they gave me, but it just doesn't matter! I was just looking forward for a reason to get back into a running routine and the new shoes did it. I even switched from the Asics brand, that I have been wearing for the last 12 years plus, to a Brook Adrenaline III. I actually like the shoes even better than the Asics! Soooo, I just ran an easy three Wednesday at a 10:56 pace. No walking! I don't know why I didn't start out walking like I usually do, but I just felt like starting out by an easy jog (God I hate that J word). The shoes felt so good that I knew it was just going to be a matter of time before I was able to run four or five miles again. Well, I didn't have to wait long! Yesterday (Thursday) I went down to English Landing and told myself that I was going to run two loops around the park to get in a five miler. I even decided to start out jogging slowly to get warmed up. The five miles was not a problem! Here are my splits: 11:19, 10:55, 11:03, 10:23 and a 9:17. Yeah, I know it's slow, but it meant so much to me to know that I can call myself a runner again..........Mike