Confidence

57 minutes, 26 seconds is the official time on the clock for the 10K race I did this morning.
It's also the slowest 10K I have ever run, by some considerable margin.

But the statistics don't tell the whole story.

Today I am 56 days post surgery and last night the organiser offered me a place in the race. As it was a two lap course it was ideal because if I had got into difficulties it would have been easy to get back to the finish area and recover. This was only my third run since the suregery and it was my first for my new club, Lytham St Annes Road Runners.

I have had no adverse reaction. I didn't even feel particularly tired afterwards, and I maintained the same pace throughout.

I'm not a great collector of medals (I have loads of them)
But this one bears a lot of significance because it signifies the beginning of racing for my new club and a return to racing after the lay-off.

More importantly it tells me I can run as much as I want to as often as I want to. Stiff legs and shortage of breath will guide me, as it always has.

I now have the confidence I was looking for to get back to a full exercise regime. Happy days