I was sitting at a coffee shop working all afternoon, so my body felt a little stiff—a culmination of traveling as well as yesterday’s Jiu-Jitsu training. I figured I’d shake everything off with a quick 30-minute run at the end of the day.

I’m feeling inspired today to run faster than usual. I started off strong and tried to maintain the effort throughout the run. There was a little bit of struggle around the 18-20 minute mark, but I pulled through, focusing on my breathing and posture, forcing a smile to lift my mood. I felt my heart racing under the streetlight shining onto the puddle of an empty street, frequently disrupted by a few bikes passing through.

I ended the run drenched in sweat, feeling proud of myself for starting and finishing the run. It has definitely been a while since I was able to run 5 km in under 30 minutes. I need to run more frequently for my mental well-being and look forward to checking off the Exercise box in my habit tracker.