Back slowly
It has been three months since I have last posted. In that time I have managed to slowly build myself back up from fairly serious feet injuries.
I have always been a sprinter: it is in my physical and mental make-up. My transformation into a middle distance runner, in all things, has been arduous, and I will never quite be there. The costs are not insubstantial: I have lost my explosive power. And I feel that, too.
But in its place is a greater sense of resilience. I remember the first time I ran a 10k. The week afterwards I walked from my apartment into the warm morning and realised that I could continue to walk. It was as if I could watch myself take step after empowered step, each one springing me towards the day ahead.
I am happy to avoid much impact training. I am also happy to soon be walking to work much more often. These two ambitions are part of perhaps more spiritual and lasting reasons to be be fit then I have ever had before.
Today I played some tedious football. Sport at the end of the week is enjoyed most when shared with those who appreciate what a busy end to the week feels like. I think that with exams now taking up our hall, I will instead look towards perhaps taking on some 10ks.
I may even attempt a 5k for the first time in a very long time. Will I risk that? I wonder. But I am resolutely back.
I have always been a sprinter: it is in my physical and mental make-up. My transformation into a middle distance runner, in all things, has been arduous, and I will never quite be there. The costs are not insubstantial: I have lost my explosive power. And I feel that, too.
But in its place is a greater sense of resilience. I remember the first time I ran a 10k. The week afterwards I walked from my apartment into the warm morning and realised that I could continue to walk. It was as if I could watch myself take step after empowered step, each one springing me towards the day ahead.
I am happy to avoid much impact training. I am also happy to soon be walking to work much more often. These two ambitions are part of perhaps more spiritual and lasting reasons to be be fit then I have ever had before.
Today I played some tedious football. Sport at the end of the week is enjoyed most when shared with those who appreciate what a busy end to the week feels like. I think that with exams now taking up our hall, I will instead look towards perhaps taking on some 10ks.
I may even attempt a 5k for the first time in a very long time. Will I risk that? I wonder. But I am resolutely back.