How do I get INTO this?

Well, I didn't make it out on Wednesday....I just wasn't feeling it. I allowed myself to skip that day since I will be running both days this weekend, but I still felt guilty. My whole plan for training is to try to stick COMPLETELY to the suggested mileage totals for each week. I figure at a minimum I should be able to finish that way, and I'm still holding out hope that it's about to get easier!

Yesterday I went out for 5.65, and the only reason I went that far is that I was running/walking, and was determined to do four miles. I have been getting a cramp in my chest (seriously...feels like my lung?) lately, and it's been disrupting my running. Monday I was able to just walk .1 and get past it, but yesterday it was really nagging. Regardless, it finally went away, and I felt pretty good in the end. My pace has been horrible lately, probably mostly due to the three or four pounds I've gained lately...but I just can't seem to get diet under control! Any suggestions are welcome. When I was training in the spring of this year I found running really reduced my appetite...don't know why this time around I'm craving so much junk.

I think I'm just depressed with the totally oppressive weather. I can't wait for it to get cooler. I think then I might feel like I have some energy! I've also been plagued with a series of minor aches and pains....I just don't feel GOOD running. Yesterday it was my left knee...sometimes my left hip...sometimes between the shoulders....always the left ankle...I just want to return to when things felt really smooth and fairly effortless. I'm hoping it's just that my patience is lacking this time around and my expectations for a return to previous fitness in a short amount of time are unrealistic....it could also be that my shoes don't really fit as well as they should. I'm sure I'll sort it out eventually.

I think I would also like to either get a new ipod or find a running partner. While silent runs have given me a chance to focus on breathing and form, and to reflect and appreciate nature, I think I'm starting to get bored! And this is bad, considering to date my longest run has been 5.25! I have a 5k tomorrow, and I'm hoping that will snap me out of this rut...I like doing races, and find that it's the only way I truly hit 'race pace' I just can't go faster on my own. Maybe another reason why I need a partner....

In better news, I FINALLY managed to squeeze in a pilates session yesterday...after my run! So I'm proud of myself for that, and I think it really helped to loosen me up. I'd like to do it daily; I have a DVD with mat workouts for am and pm. They're short, so it's not much of a commitment, and I think I might relieve a lot of my nagging pains if I had stronger abs and actually stretched!