What's This???

A few steps into my run yesterday I came to a sad realization. Nothing hurt, and it felt weird. Yep, that’s right. The fact that nothing was bothering me was downright strange. I had forgotten what it felt like to not run in pain and my legs had that odd “just got off the treadmill” feeling. About ten minutes into the run I was thinking how I wished I could bottle up the way I felt and repeat it each and every day. I know that’s not likely to be the case, but it sure would be nice!

Anyway, I put in 4 miles on the Hanging Rock Trail and it was my best run in a long, long time, not because I felt better than most days but because I actually felt good! I was able to run with a normal stride and better form, and that translated to a slightly faster pace than what I’d been running even though the effort was the same or maybe even less. It’s amazing what having both your legs working rather than dragging them along as ornamental objects will do for your ability to cover ground. Whereas my normal opening miles here lately have been around 8:00, sometimes slower, yesterday was around 7:30 and everything else was a little faster than that, all just cruising at a relaxed effort. It certainly wasn’t anything to write home about, but it sure was a complete contrast to all my runs of the past few weeks (and to not being able to run at all).

Now, the key will be how I feel this afternoon. Will I be the same, better, slightly worse, way worse? Who knows? I can say I felt fine afterward and don’t have any pain walking around today, which is not something I could say over the past few weeks. Hopefully I’ve turned the corner, but only time will tell. When I wrote my entry yesterday, I was VERY discouraged and quite honestly about ready to throw in the towel. Last night reminded me of why I actually do this and gave me some hope that there might be some light at the end of the tunnel and a chance I can still give this a go. What a difference a day and a pain free run makes!