A Year of Running

No one that knows me was surprised I started running the moment I could after my accident broke my knee (among other things).

I nailed my  ortho doctor down in May (four months after the accident) on when he thought I could start running. After rebuilding my knee, he wasn’t keen on my ruining it again.  And, based on the amount of cushion I had left, he wasn’t sure I was going to enjoy it as much as I thought I would. But after some pushing, he suggested August first as a possibility he could live with

So of course I got on the treadmill August 1st and proceeded to run…..for 2 minutes at a very slow pace, holding on to the treadmill bars.

But it was running!

I didn’t run outside for quite a while, I think it was the end of September before I ventured out. Even so, most of my running that fall was done on the treadmill.  And throughout the winter, naturally, I was in on the treadmill.

I started running outside as soon as possible in the spring. I remembered how very much I hated hills (also that I was surrounded by hills). And how very wonderful it was when I managed to conquer them.

These were the numbers for my first August. And only an hour and twenty-eight minutes were actually spent running. A lot of them were walking the dog 🙂

The numbers for August, a year later.  Still a good bit of walking the dog–she is a demanding little girl. But six and a half hours and thirty  miles of those numbers were running. The bulk of them were run outside, with only two days on the treadmill (must have been raining!).

I also hit one of my major goals that month, running the Rail Trail between Gardiner and Augusta; a distance of 6.5 miles. I felt wonderful.

I’m back on the treadmill now, with extreme cold outside. It is currently, at 9AM, -17 degrees here. Although there was a road race in Bangor–oh my, they are even further north–yesterday, I am just not that brave. But I am already looking forward to getting back out there in the spring!