Run To You

Confucius said that every journey starts with a single step. I say that if I’m going to do the Chester 10K next year (thanks sis!) then I need to start with a short run, especially as it’s 9 months since my last run and 18 months since I ran on a regular basis.
The issue was my right knee. I damaged it climbing many years ago and when I started running at the age of 59, I suffered every time I overdid it. The 5K I attempted last August ended in agony and I’ve concentrated since then on working to build up the muscles in my leg with a view to getting back to running regularly.
Well, today was the day that I thought my knee might be strong enough to try again. I’d been to the gym this morning with no issues so, when Mrs C said she was going to the gym this afternoon, I went with her with the intention of doing a short run to see how everything held up.
I made sure that the knee was well strapped and the route had a couple of points where I could cut it short if needed.
And it went pretty well. Mrs C captured me arriving back at the gym after covering just over 3K. I felt that was sufficient for the first time back, and I was pleased with the pace I managed. I’m aching a bit now, but nothing too bad.
I think the next step is to do a few more runs around this distance before attempting a 5K again. And only when I can do that distance comfortably will I think about going further. When I started this blip, nearly four years ago, I celebrated the fact that I’d used lockdown to achieve my goal of running a 10K before turning 60. This year, I’ll aim for a more realistic goal of running a 5K before my next birthday.