Ups and Downs

After an unintentional winter away from running, I’ve started to get back into it now that Spring has arrived. We’ve been running again for a couple of months and after a dip in my motivation over the last couple of weeks, I feel my enthusiasm is beginning to return again.

Last weekend, I ducked out of the Sand Dancer 10k after a difficult Parkrun on Saturday due to a sore hip and a bad dose of Hay Fever. I went along to cheer on Tone and my brother-in-law Craig. My sister (Joanne) and I got rather wind swept and I spent the time enjoying catching up with Joanne and feeling sure I’d made the right decision not to run. I enjoyed cheering everyone on, especially Tone and Craig. I was so proud of Tone who knocked an amazing 4 minutes of his Blyth 10k time. I felt disappointed that I couldn’t share in the success of my own running, but I know that if I’d ran I would have felt worse and Tone wouldn’t have done so well. I am really learning to listen to my body and only run if I know I feel up to it. I ignore the times I ‘just don’t fancy it’ as those are inevitably the times I need to run the most; but if I am in pain or unwell I am allowing myself permission to rest.

I ran again last Tuesday: Tone and I did our usual 3.2 mile loop, on an evening I would have quite happily rather stayed in. But we laced up and got out and I felt good for it; reminding myself that I can run, even on the days I don’t want to. Running (and life) are always going to have ups and downs and I am embracing the roller coaster whilst seeking out as many ups as I can find.

We’ve started training for York Marathon in October, a huge challenge both psychologically and physically. Will I be able to do it? Who knows: but I am going to give my all in trying. I love running with Tone, not least because it’s what brought us together, and I am looking forward to embracing this challenging and exciting journey with my Solemate. 

Before Tone ran the Sand Dancer 10K