• Location: the back porch

running: back in the sneakers

Last you all knew, I was having runner's knee and had cut back on my running a lot. That was back in May or June (looking back at my log, it was actually the beginning of May), and I had decided to give myself a break from running while rehabbing my knees a bit. Then I went to SF and watched Bay to Breakers, and then I had my crazy traveling summer, and, although I brought my running gear with me, I never actually used it. So it's been four months since I ran at all.

Tuesday, moominmolly and I got up early and went for a "let's see where we are" run. I figured I'd be back in the early weeks of the couch to 5k plan that I love so much, so I was pleased to discover that running the 4 minute intervals that we did felt entirely doable.

So, my goal for today was to do run/walk intervals of 5/3/5/3/5, for a total of 15 minutes of running. Imagine my surprise and delight, then, when I discovered at 5 minutes that I felt good enough to keep going. And again at 10. And at 15. So I ran a total of 16:30, and I felt like I could have kept going, cardiovascularly, and decided to stop on the theory that I actually shoudl ease my body back into this by not pushing it and keeping myself to comfortable paces and distances for the next month.

But, seriously! How awesome is that? Runners had been telling me that once your body knows how to run, it's way easier to pick it back up than to start from scratch, but, honestly, I didn't believe them. Now, to be fair, I've lost :45 off my pace, but, hell, who cares?

Oh, and, of course, I'm reminded of the best part: After running, I feel awesome. I can do anything today. Just watch.