The corner has been turned.

Those are Adam's words, not mine, although I certainly don't disagree.

'I don't want to jinx things,' he said yesterday (at which point I shouted 'THEN DON'T SAY ANYTHING!!!' but he ignored this as he ignores so many of my over-reactions), 'but I think that you've turned the corner.'  I had run five miles that morning before seeing him and all that he could find to work on in my legs were some slightly tired calves.  Even the little tendons on the top of my foot that usually make me arch my back and shriek as though I'm being tasered were only a bit sore. I even have his blessing now to start SENSIBLY adding in a bit of speed work.

How far I've come in just over a month.  All of that stretching, strengthening, mobilising, run/walking, worrying, and bucket loads of patience have paid off.  I'm still so grateful that I am running without pain that it almost doesn't matter to me how far or how fast I'm going.  I honestly thought that my running days were over so anything that I'm able to do now feels like a bonus.  And what am I able to do, I hear you ask?  Well...

I'm not doing the Aviemore Half Marathon.  I officially withdrew last week.  Although I could have pushed myself and gotten up to 9 or 10 miles before the race and then trusted to adrenaline to carry me the extra 3 miles on race day, I chose to relax about it and do something else instead.  So, I've signed up for the River Ness 10k at the end of September and for the Culloden 10k at the end of October. Now, just like a proper runner, I have an A race (Culloden) and a B race (Inverness).  I haven't done a 10k race in a couple of years so, with no pressure and no expectation of any finishing time in particular, I'm quite looking forward to them.

It's so lovely to be back!