Last Friday was my first day of getting the official all clear to start running again. The doc had told me to take it slowly, back off if I was in any pain and don’t overdo it.  I was busy on Friday so didn’t get a chance to run, but on Saturday the weather was nice out so I decided to go for a short run. There is a little wooded trail just behind the library that is about 1/2 mile and overlooks a ravine with waterfall and I try to run this little loop as part of my Dublin runs whenever I can. I thought this would be a good first run to try. The run went well although my left leg felt stiff and I had to adjust my stride but it was great to be running in shorts and a tshirt in November. This week my ex brother in law (feels weird calling him my ex) was in town for thanksgiving and as he’s a runner we met up to go running – twice. The first time we did a loop of another park. This park is totally in the shade and one of my favourites for running in the winter and it looked quite different this time of the year. The advantage of this place is that the loop around the park is on a gravel trail and is a mile long, but I’ve found an extra 1/2 mile track to run that is mainly trails through the woods – perfect for the soft ground (at this time of year) that helps with the healing process.

So when we started the run, I warned him that I might be doing the one mile depending on my leg, but after the first half mile, my leg had loosened up and I felt good so we headed off down the trail through the woods.  We kept up a decent pace and at the end of the 2mile loop I really wanted to do it again, but I had to hang back and take the increase in distance slowly 😉 Yet again the weather was gorgeous – warm enough to run in shorts and tshirt again although this time the lungs definitely felt the cooler air but it just felt so good to be outside (and I had the day off work too which helps.)

Thursday we met up for our own Thanksgiving Turkey day trot. Last year I had hoped to do Dublin’s Flying Feather 4 mile race but on that morning I could struggled to walk .1 miles and later found out that I had torn my meniscus. This year I wouldn’t have been able to (safely) run 4 miles due to my other knee, but I decided to wear last years shirt anyway and we headed off to Antrim Lake.  I’d never run there before so it was nice to find a new location. We did two 1.2 mile laps around the lake – the first passed quickly, I had to take a walking break mid way through the second lap and struggled for the second half. The good news was that I wasn’t struggling due to the knee but more because I felt unfit and out of breath.  I was slightly mad because I was hoping the gym would keep the fitness level up – however when I looked at the pace on the watch I realised we had just run an average of under 9min mile pace and that included the walk – our normal pace was in the mid 8’s – I hadn’t run that fast before I was injured so it was no wonder I was out of breath! Yet again the weather was gorgeous – as we walked back to the car I remarked how nice it was – warm enough to have a thanksgiving picnic.  This finished off a great first week of running – great weather, company and results.

This morning I decided to not get up early and do the Saturday morning run as I wanted to give my leg just a little more rest (it was stiff and slightly painful after running each day but not too bad). I’m glad I did though, as when I got up and looked out of the window it was snowing – a real turn around from the great weather we have had and most definitely not shorts and tshirt weather anymore.

I am looking forward to getting back to the Turtle Thursday group and the other group runs – Monday I see the doctor again – hopefully for the last time, but we’ll see what he says.