I'll keep my background brief: I'm 22, was a 9:42 3200 guy in high school, ran my freshman year at a mid-level D1 school. Ran 26:13 for 8k cross, 8:48 indoor 3k, and 15:19 outdoor 5k. Quit for a number of reasons (school work, butted head with the coach, nagging hip injury which has since healed).
After a year of no running (and lots of partying), I made a pretty successful comeback the summer after sophomore year, ran sub 60 in a tough ten mile race and 16:13 road 5k. Then I partied really hard up until the last few weeks.
I've been running 3-4 miles every day for the last two weeks, no watch, with the first mile slowwww and picking up the pace gradually until the last half mile. I feel great, and plan on keeping the no watch/controlled effort up for the rest of May.
Any tips? When should I start doing strides? Should I be cross-training? Are casual beers every other night going to slow the process? What should I do after this month of easy running?