Today, with all the grace of a wounded, overweight bear, I ran three miles. I ran two miles last night. I haven’t been able to run that far in almost a year and a half. This is an incredible milestone. I’m on my way back, and all the problems that I’ve been having are receding into the background. I feel more and more like my old, pre-lupus self every day.
You may be asking yourself “Trevor, whatever on Earth is the reason for this drastic upswing in mileage?” Well, dear reader, I’ll tell you: I have returned to running with shoes on. I finally got frustrated with pussyfooting around with half-mile runs and blisters so I just decided to give shoes a go. Surprise surprise, I was able to run much further and much faster even in my fairly beat-up pair of Free Runs. I timed my three miler today and ran it in roughly 26 minutes, or about 8:40 per mile. I was expecting my mile times to be above ten minutes, so that’s great news in terms of speed. I pretty gassed afterwards, but I wasn’t in dire straits or anything. That’s a good sign. I haven’t lost as much ground as I thought I did.
The Free Runs (originally bought just to walk around in) are not going to cut it as footwear because of the steep and frankly ridiculous heel-to-toe dropoff. I’m going to snag a pair of Minimuses or some Free 3.0s tomorrow.
I’m going to be running a 5k on June 26th. It feels good to be training and striving to better myself again. I consider myself blessed to be where I am, and I’m thankful to God for giving me the twin gifts of health and running.
Phillipians 3:14, everybody.
lupusrun 
That is so awesome! I’m really glad to hear you are running again, and feeling good with shoes on! The right shoes can make a world of difference! I’m running a half tomorrow, with a hamstring I’ve been nursing for three weeks now, and a doctor hovering over me, threatening me with new Lupus meds. Once I finish my full in October, then I’ll give in and try the new meds, but not until then! You go, Trevor, and keep us posted!
How, a half AND a full! That’s amazingly inspiring! Good luck! I hope your hamstring is ok by race day.
Awesome on your three miles! I am super inpressed about your time too. I am excited that I found this blog because I have Lupus also and am just getting back into running. I have worked up to 4 miles but at a slow and steady 11:30 pace:) There is not much out there for runners with Lupus so thanks for sharing your journey!
Hey, that’s so great that you’re running, too! Congratulations on working up to four miles! It feels so awesome to be able to hit the roads, doesn’t it?
I made it, didn’t PR, but I made it, and that’s what counts, right? To me, it’s more important that I finish – who knows when we won’t be able to do this anymore? That’s the most important part. I’m working on the PR, but focusing on the fact that we are lucky to be out there right now.
That’s so awesome that you finished! Congratulations! One of my eventual goals is to run a half, I’m impressed!