I May Never Run Again

Oh my days.

Yesterday I decided to go for a run. I've been eating well and exercising, building my fitness level and the goal has always been to start running again but I have dodgy knee so I need to be careful. I'm actually waiting for a knee arthroscopy as apparently, I have the knee of an 80-year-old. Fun times.

In my infinite wisdom, I have decided to add running to my regime. I used to belong to running clubs in my youth and I have lots of fond memories from those. I also used to be able to run 5k in 21 minutes but let's not dwell on the incredible awesomeness of youth. 

Before I had my second baby, I even ran a couple of half marathons and regular running was part of my routine. But we all know what it's like when you have kids - things change and I dropped the running ball. 

Like any good writer, I spent a good deal of time procrastinating and getting ready to start running became another procrastination task - one that I was very good at! 

This Sunday however, all the running gods had aligned. I had my running trainers - ones that I had bought after getting my gait analysed correctly. I had brand new running socks from Christmas. I had workout leggings that actually stayed up and didn't fall down when you moved. I had earbuds for my phone and a new fit watch. And the clothing delivery I was waiting for had finally arrived with my long-sleeved running tops. (It's bloomin' cold out there!)

So off I go. To begin with my knee hurt and I was limp-running. This is not good I thought, I will have to stop but instead, I pushed on and tried to relax into my running stride. Half a mile there, half a mile back I thought but when I ran that half-mile I felt great, so I figured I could run one mile there, one mile back. I hit the mile and thought well I probably ought to just round that up to a mile and a half, I feel okay, let's do it. 

Then comes the fun part. The bit where you turn around and run back to where you began. And that's when the quads started to hurt and the pace slowed down a little and it seemed to take forever for that distance number to increase. 

I got to two miles and my friend's voice, he happens to be a runner, says "It's only a mile. Anyone can run a mile." So inside my head, I started pushing and willing and urging myself to finish without stopping. 

And I bloody did it. Thirty-five minutes for three miles after having not run a lick in forever. I was pretty chuffed with that. 

And yeah my muscles were a bit stiff and a bit sore and yeah my knee was grumbling a bit but I figured I'd done the hard bit and all would be well.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Fast forward to today and I can't move. Everything hurts. Plus my knee is angry at me. On reflection, it probably wasn't a very good idea. And I may never run again.

But next Saturday I have the opportunity to go for a run, so we shall see...

Claire Buss is a multi-genre author and poet, completely addicted to cake. Find out more about her books on her website clairebuss.co.uk. Join the discussion in her Facebook group Buss's Book Stop.