It really has been too long, and I blame my dog!
I completed C25K in June 2018, then did JuJu's magic plan, consolidated my 10k, worked on speeding up my 5k - I was going great guns. Then I got a pup, and oh my God, it was like having a new born baby again. So running stopped.
Oh, I've done the odd bit here and there, followed a couple of training plans on my Garmin over the last year, but never got into a routine. Doesn't help that pup suffers from separation anxiety (yes, it's a real thing honestly!), so I decided that, as he can't be left for long, he would just have to come with me. So pup is now on week 5 of C25K! π Must be honest, he hasn't totally embraced the concept of running continuously. There are too many smells to sniff at, too many trees to cock a leg against, and too many horse droppings to be eaten (yum yum apparently). But as he is a dog with very little brain I am making allowances.
As, obviously, I have to accompany him on his C25K journey, it means I too am on week 5 (the dreaded run 3 is next!). But I must say it's a darned sight easier second time round. I know I've sort of vaguely kept my hand in, and I've learned how to run really slowly, but even so, it's been easier than I feared (after all, I am 2 years older than I was first time round).
I am convinced that the body doesn't forget how to run. It may need easing in gently, but it remembers everything it learned before.
So for all of you who are on the IC, or have had a long break, and are worried that you will have lost fitness, yes, you will have (sorry!), but you won't be back to square one. Just take it gently and you'll soon be smashing it again!πββοΈπββοΈ