Back in my happy place

My original regular training run was home-to-Morton-Hall. I started by thinking it was "about two miles" round trip; was a bit disappointed when FetchEveryone informed me it was actually 1.75 miles, but hey. It usually took me about 20-21 minutes in splits.

It was the site of my first walks-with-running breaks; my first (nearly) mile without a stop; and then the whole lot in one hit.

I realise that I haven't run that route since September. The September-November period was given over to much longer runs, both round the village and at Longwater, when I tried to build up mileage; and my few runs in the last month have been with Kim round the new state near the gym.

Including today, I've done 13 miles this month - not huge, but getting back to where I want to be. My only residual niggles right now are the left hip, and a weird discomfort in the right foot (same foot as the ankle problem was) but specifically in the middle toe - as I put weight on the foot and bend it to walk. Very odd. Not even a pain, but - as I've had in other places before - a "there". Looking forward to the appointment with the podiatrist next month.

Anyway, I hadn't run since last Thursday. Six days? Not good. A planned evening with Kim earlier this week didn't happen, as she was under the weather, and I just hadn't shifted my ass to get out on my own. Today was a glorious day, and I really fancied the run, but thought I hadn't enough time (physio this morning, computer training client this afternoon). But when, in the event, my client decided we had covered all the work she wanted to do in just over the hour, instead of two hours, I found myself with a bit of time to spare in daylight, so got out there.

A steady pace, 1.75 miles in 19 minutes dead, pleasingly sub-11:00 pace; kept to the middle of the road to avoid problems with camber. Breathing fine; ankle OK, toes OK; left hip a bit sore but nothing drastic. A gorgeous evening, just before sunset; and best of all, the baby bovines were out. The cattle in the field on the right of the track often come and watch me; this time, they had their new-borns with them, who were absolutely tiny and clearly mystified by what I was up to. I'll take the mobile with me next time and photograph them.

I've realised that I really have to take this building-up process pretty slowly, and also that I was slipping back into the "if I can't do it properly, I won't do it at all" mentality. When I first used this route, I was of the opinion that while any increase in distance or speed was good, but just doing the same as last time was fine, too. And that's where I need to be now for a while. I love running with Kim, and I love pushing myself to train; but these quiet evenings in a familiar environment, with no company but scolding blackbirds and curious cattle, are very precious, and I'd forgotten how much I'd missed them.