MAMAVATION MONDAY: Getting back into running, Countdown to 5K

I did so well in January with my running.  I had set myself a goal of running 20 miles and I blew that out of the water by running 40 miles instead.  I was so proud of myself and I felt so great.  Then, February came and well, I definitely took it off.  I didn't run even close to what I did in January but I ran only a few times.  I am not proud of that.  I have been trying to adjust to my new schedule with working a part time job during the afternoons but now I think I have a better handle on all of that so I hope to improve my running and get back to running at least 20 miles a month.  I know, already, that I can run more than that since I did it last month.  I just need to remember to put myself first.  This isn't an easy task for myself because I tend to think about what I need to do for everyone first.  Treadmill running is not my favorite thing in the world but I need to just suck it up and do it. I hope that using a new treadmill will make it a bit more exciting.  Hopefully we can pick that new one up this week.  It is free but it is really heavy and I know my husband is not looking forward to actually physically picking it up.

March is going to be a busy running month for me because I want to get my mileage back up but also because I have 3 5K's that I am doing during the month.  I have 2 virtual runs and my first actual official outdoor 5K.  That one is on March 30th and I am running that one with my husband and son for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.  It is a great course, mostly flat and just a nice, outdoor run.  We ran it last year and when I ran it, we literally woke up and went to run.  I hadn't trained or anything beforehand.  I was not in great shape and I didn't have the lung capacity that I feel I have now when running.  This year I want to improve my time for the race and see if I can shave off at least 4 minutes from last year's time.  I feel like that is a pretty attainable goal for me.  I have been running semi consistently since October and I think I am stronger and better prepared than last year.  So I plan on running at least every other day throughout the month of March to prepare for this run.  I am also considering doing a practice run of the course just to see how I do with it.  This course has a pretty big hill in the first half mile but after that, it is pretty much downhill or flat running.  I'd love to see how I do ahead of time to see what I will need to do to reach my goal.  Is that cheating when it comes to beating my old time?! I don't know, part of me wants to see ahead of time where I am at time wise but another part of me wants to just prepare at home, run that day and hope for a good result.  The other factor for me is that my husband is running this 5K with me and he hasn't been training so I don't know if I will have to walk or slow down for him.  I feel like he would encourage me to just keep going as I did for him last year in a different 5K.  He beat me by 3 minutes on that one.