Gettin' back to lifting and running

Hi there everyone! Last Thursday (March 5, 2009) I went over to the gym at Howard Community College and lifted some weights for the first time in at least a couple of weeks. I have been feeling all right recently and I feel a little more confident that I can better balance how much I eat with how much I work out. I've gained a bit of weight too, I'm probably in the low 150's, and if not I'm close to that. The next day (Friday, March 6) I went running for the first time since mid February, and I did about 2.5 miles (10 laps and then some) on Centennial High School's outdoor track in Ellicott City (Howard County), Maryland. I felt all right; I think it may have gone better had my right leg not been feeling a bit sore behind the knee (and if I had not been feelin' fairly outta shape; I felt pretty winded/tired afterwards). I ran it in about 17:31 (right around a seven-minute pace on average, with a 6:49 the first mile and 13:53 for two miles). I ran a little more than ten laps, 'cause on the last lap I had to run on the grass (the track team over there was practicing and they were about to have a time trial, so I ran on the grass to get out of the way). I realize that I was cutting off a bit of the distance, so I decided to add on by about 25 meters after running by the place on the track where I initially intended to finish my ten laps, which probably resulted in me running just a little bit over 2.5 miles, but that's all right. Anyway, I went running again yesterday (Sunday, March 8, 2009) at the Howard County Striders' weekly winter series ("Operation Iceberg") number 8 at the Thunder Hill Elementary School in Columbia. I ran the two-mile nice and easy, even though it was pretty hilly and I probably did end up running a bit faster the second half than I did the first. I ran it in about 14:19, and I haven't run times like that since the eighth grade (at one time, my two-mile PR was about 14:20 in eighth grade and I had run it at that venue, and since then my two mile times there have been anywhere between 11 and 14 minutes, with my best time on that course being about 11:52 back in 2007). Anyway, it was not as fast as I ran on Friday, but this had hills, and I felt much better than I did on Friday. I actually think I may have gone through the first mile in about 7:59, thus coming back in 6:20, but I may have gone through the first mile a little faster than that, thus coming back in the second mile a little slower than 6:20. Though, either way, I thought I had a nice second mile.
I made sure I ate some trail mix and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich not long after. I'm just takin' this slow; tryin' to get a smart balance between eating and exercising. I have a HIDA scan on my stomach/abdomen this Wednesday, so hopefully as a result, the test can lend a bit more clarity to what's been up with my stomach/gallbladder/digestive system. God-willing, things will work out and I feel fortunate to be back at running, and even though I'm not running as strong as I was about a month or so ago, at least I'm able to run and if it's God's will, I'll be able to get back into stronger shape and continue to improve.
Thanks for stopping by and reading. I'm gonna try and go for my "long" run of the week (I hope to hit about five-and-a-half miles), which may be tough, as it's pretty windy over here. I hope you all have a terrific day; God bless :)