Slow but Steady

I have no idea how far I ran. I will go measure it. I think around 2-3 miles.  I ran this morning cause I know i won't be able to run tonight and I want to make sure I get in my run for the day. My family is in town. It was very different and kind of hard. The first little bit wasn't bad at all, but toward the end it got hot and hard. It was around 11AM, so pretty hot part of the day. I was thirsty too. I took some walk breaks, but finished strong. My side is still hurting. I think I'm going to go to the doctor today to see if it something I can do differently. It hurts all the time; not just when I run. Right below my right rib cage. I dunno why. Besides that, running is getting better. I'm not running as far, but I think I'm running faster. I dunno if that's a good thing or a bad thing. I figure if i can run a mile pretty fast, then i can build up slowly, but still at a good pace. Then I can run 1.5 miles fast, and then 2 miles fast, and then 2.5 miles fast, and up and up. Instead of just jumping to running 4-5 miles really, really slow. I don't know if that's a good strategy, but I guess we'll see. Any suggestions?

I hardly had time to run tonight, but I did it anyway. Just for a bit. It was good. It was after dark, so I went with my friend to her apt complex and just ran the treadmill. I feel myself slowly getting stronger and back into things. I guess it's good to run even for just a bit instead of not at all. I dunno, but it seems like it makes my body realize that I'm going to run everyday, whether it likes it or not. Even tho it was just a short, quick run, it's still not as fast as I'd like it to be. It seems I have the same pace if I'm going for a long time or even just a short time. Why? I wonder. I tried to up my speed a bit, and I did - I ran the last half mile or so in about 5-6 minutes. Which is really, really slow. But usually, it would prob have been about 7-8 minutes. So, I'm just slow all around. If I could just make my body run 1 mile in about 7 minutes, I'd be so proud of myself, but even a 10 min mile is a struggle. Is it because i'm unconsciously trying to conserve and save my energy for the rest of the run, cause it thinks there's more? Or maybe cause I always push myself beyond what my original goal is just so I can be an over achiever. Even if it's a tenth of a mile or so. I dunno. I just wish I was faster. Maybe if I do intervals of sprinting for a minute and walking for a half a min or so, maybe that would be good, yeah? Any ideas?