20 minutes is 20 minutes

 I've started into a comfortable routine of getting up around 6am and going for a 20min run 2-3 days per week. It's not much, but it's something. 

Why 20 minutes?

20 minutes allows me time to get up with my husband at 6am, get out the door, run, cool down, stretch, and shower before he leaves the house at 7am. I need to be back on time because kids. And I don't want to get up earlier at this point because lazy.

The other nice thing is I remind myself  that I'm ONLY going for 20 minutes, which gives me the motivation I need on some of those more challenging mornings. But, 20 minutes is 20 minutes. That's a full hour of running a week! I've worked up my speed so that I'm now running roughly 3km in that time, which is satisfying. And the best part is I'm not too sore after, so while I'm still only aiming for 3 days per week, this doesn't wreck me for walks or other activities I want to do with the family.

As things improve and I re-establish this running routine, I'm hoping I can increase up to 30min and maybe even 5km (a slow runner can dream, right?). Maybe I'll even start training my way back into a 10km or even a half marathon and try to relive my glory days of when I was [still slow, but] running for longer distances.

But for now, 20 minutes is 20 minutes. I'll take it.