The last time I went running was May 26, two days before my first surgery. That morning I ran 8 miles at a decent training pace (around 11 minutes/mile) and was thinking that I'd be back out in eight days, two weeks at the most. Yeah, that didn't happen.
So here it is, a month later. I was astonished at how many things I had forgotten in a month: the way my little toes go numb half a mile into any run, and then are fine a few blocks later, the way the running shoes feel on my feet, nodding at the regulars I see on my path most days. Today I ran two miles. And it was hard and I was slow. But I ran.
I will no longer be doing the SF half-marathon. It's July 25 and not only do I not have time to train for it safely anymore, but I will likely be radioactive that weekend. I don't think I can ask everyone else in the race to maintain a ten foot distance from me at all times, nor will I have the energy to go that far, even if I could train. That means my next race is at the end of October. I figured out the training plan earlier this week and was thinking I have plenty of time. After this morning, I'm a little less confident.
They say (whoever they are) that there is a two week grace period before your body starts losing conditioning if you stop running. And that it takes doing something regularly for three weeks to make it a habit.
So now I have to fight a little, to get my conditioning back, to get back into the habit of running, to get past the place where two miles hurts and back to the spot where it's easy.
But I guess I am still a runner. And so, I start again.
