Last night I went for a run for the first time in 3 weeks.  It was awful and awesome at the same time.  I did find it hard going, particularly because it was very windy and I was running against the wind for most of my run.  But I have missed running so much that it still felt awesome to be moving at my (admittedly slow pace) over my usual running route.  I never set out to go three weeks without running, it was just a series of random things happening all in a row that stopped me.

On the 16th of December, on my usual evening run, I went 5k.  It was pretty amazing to me that I managed that distance, it was only the second time after all and I was really excited about it.  Only I ended up with a nagging ache in my left hip that wouldn’t go away, even while resting.  So not wanting to do myself further injury, I gave myself a week to rest.

The following Monday, I think I overdid it with running errands and general busy-ness because that evening I ended up with a sore throat, and then stayed sick for two weeks.  The sore throat and cough weren’t the worst I’ve ever been ill, but I was pretty much sapped of any remaining energy and after Christmas Day I spent the best part of a week in bed.  Not exactly sleeping all the time,  sometimes I was just lying there thinking ‘I should get up, I should get up’ and then not getting up.  It had been a long and stressful run up to the Christmas break from work, and I suppose once my body knew it could rest, it was going to go rest with a vengeance! Today, I’m much better though my energy levels are still low and I have a little nagging cough (that I’m choosing to ignore because it’s really not painful, just annoying).

The day before yesterday I tweeted I was going running.  I had enough.  I was tired of being tired, sick of missing my running and feeling restless just thinking about hanging around the house after work.    So, three weeks to the day after my last run, I went running.

It was hard going.  My legs felt heavy and I felt slow and sluggish.  I’m not sure if it was residual exhaustion or if it was because it had been so long since I’d run, but I don’t care.  I was finally running again.  I ran approximately 2.5km in 23:28 and I’m really pleased with that.  For a comeback run, it wasn’t bad!  I am just so relieved I had the energy for it!

Now I’m planning to get back to my usual routine of running 3 nights a week for the next few weeks, then I want to add a 4th night to that.  I’m pretty persistent, you might have noticed that about me already, but I will run a sub-40 5k, and I will run 10k someday.  Sooner or later, I WILL.

You can bet on it!