I'm an 18 year old male who recently graduated high school. Ran xc for 3 years and track for 4. I wasn't a great runner, but I considered myself decent enough. I had PRs of 18:05 for 5k xc and 5:04 for the 1600.
I was a very dedicated runner during junior year xc and track, and senior year xc. I ran all my miles and did my best to be the best that I could be. I felt like running gave me a purpose in my life, something to work for and strive to be the best that I could be in.
The winter of my senior year, I slacked off a lot but still ran 5+ times a week. I went from 50-60 mpw to 30-40. This led to a lackluster track season with no PRs and I quit running about halfway through the season in March (in my state track begins in late Janurary and ends in early May.)
Since then I've run maybe once every other week. I've started partying more and generally being a bum. I wake up everyday well past noon, go to work, eat like sh!t, go out with friends, drink and smoke weed, and go to bed at like 3 am.
I tried to replace running with lifting weights at first, but I couldn't get myself to enjoy lifting as much as I did running. I went to the gym nearly everyday for about a month, and then slacked off in that just like I did at the end of my running career.
I would like to get back into running a lot more. As of now I don't really want to train for races or anything, I just want to get back into ok shape to where I can enjoy a run on a nice day without feeling like death.
For example, I used to be able to go out on a nice easy 5-8 mile run cruising at 7:30-8:00 pace and have a great time, it didn't feel too hard and I would just enjoy exercising in the fresh air. A few weeks ago I ran a 10k on the 4th of july in about 52:30 (8:30 pace) and it was really hard. I had to stop to walk once or twice. My legs were sore for like 2 days afterwards
How can I ease myself back into running to get to the point where I can enjoy it like I used to? I think once I get to college in late august I will start lifting weights again (gym membership here expired), but for now I would like to just run some more.
It doesn't help that I live in the southeast and its been well over 90 degrees everyday for pretty much the whole summer.
Can anyone else who's gotten really out of shape and then back into it give me some tips or advice to make the process easier?
TL;DR: I used to be able to enjoy a nice easy run and running gave me a sense of purpose in life. Have since gotten out of shape and become somewhat of a bum. I think getting back into shape would help me sort out my sh!t and make me a lot happier, but in my out of shape state, running isn't fun anymore, its just hard.