Runners are awesome people

[Annenewrunner]

Went out today in the cold and rain for my first attempt at a run this year.

Completed the C25K in May 2020, tried to keep up with consolidation runs but as the weather turned up the heat I slowed and by the time we had the heatwave in the UK has all but given up.

Then autumn came, nights got darker and work got busier so I found even less time for running and less motivation.

So in the spirit of new year new start this morning I smashed through the work inbox and decided a run at lunchtime was just the ticket.

Have gone back to week 6 on the app, but after less than 5 minutes running I felt like I wanted to just give up and walk up.

This is when I passed a runner, a ‘proper runner.’

I checked the traffic and moved over into the road in order to give him plenty of social distance and in response he gave me the most genuine thumbs up 👍 and shouted “keep going!”

I smiled and managed a ‘thank you!’ In return but words cannot describe the lift this interaction gave me. Especially given the current lockdown situation and that social interactions have been few and far between recently.

It is with pride that I say again... runners are awesome! I managed to complete week 6 run 2 without stopping and will continue to push forwards so that I can one day again hold my head up high and call myself a runner

[IannodaTruffe Mentor]

Well done, but if you haven't run for some months it may be wiser to start of a bit further back. We are all capable of doing way more than our bodies are conditioned to do, but not without increasing our injury risk.

All any of us can do after a lay off is to go out and see what we can comfortably manage, then build back up gently, using C25k or something similar as a guide to weekly increase.