How Stella's getting her run back

Yea, I just called myself Stella.

Running these past 2 weeks have been amazing. Coincidentally, two weeks ago, I started using Castor oil on my foot. These past two weeks, the pain in my foot has subsided dramatically. The wart is still there, but I think its healing.

I have been running with purpose. For the past few months, my running has been lacking discipline, passion, and purpose. I came to realize that I was running just to check it off my to do list. I didn't really realize this on my own, this little gem of a revelation came from P. One day I was complaining about running to P, and he simply looked at me and said "You are only running to check it off your list. You don't really care about what you are doing." BOOM. There are so many times, that I get so lost in my own head, and when I talk about them to P, he tells me directly what I need to hear, whether I want to hear it or not. He is a straight shooter, and will tell me the truth, even at the risk of hurting my feelings. I  need that. A lot.

The Plan. I want to run a 24 minute 5K. My plan is to rebuild from the ground up. I am going to spend the summer doing more speed work and fewer junk miles. Every run, from speed work to recovery will have a purpose. The funny thing is, this is all the stuff I know, and I have done before, but I just was not putting it into practice. I got comfortable running at a slow pace, stopping whenever I felt like it, and I was comfortable not pushing myself.

Speaking of purpose, I have also been doing some speed miles. I mapped out a route around my neighborhood that is exactly one mile. Oddly enough, I don't do well when I don't have a specific route in mind. I actually ran my fastest marathon 2 year ago. At the time, the street in front of our apartment was exactly a mile, stop sign to stop sign. I did every single run on that sidewalk, even my long 20 milers. I found that I am motivated when I can see the end point, and I can tell myself I only need to run on the exact spot X amount of times again until I am done. Yea, I am nuts, I know.

I have a benchmark. A few weeks ago, I ran a 5K in 26 minutes. Not my fastest 5K ever, but that is where I am physically right now. I know I can beat that. On Monday afternoon, I ran 3 miles in 96 degree heat in 26 minutes.

I have been running in the 7:00's. I am super comfortable running between 8:15-8:30. When I start running faster, I panic, and force myself to slow down. I get scared and worried that I am going to fail.

A little evidence for you. That's 7:16. So what
if I only ran one mile, and wanted to pass out
afterwards. I still ran in the 7:00's. 

I am ready. I am ready to train, and train hard. I am ready to run again. Some days, I have even run twice, just for fun.

It feels good to be back. It's like reuniting with an old friend.

Help me stay inspired; How do you get out of a running rut? What keeps you inspired when you run? How do you stay motivated to train hard?