The LeftBacks

After some convincing from the rest of the LeftBacks team, two weeks ago I decided to put my running story into words and to my surprise it got quite a decent reception. You can read that first post here.

I’m still amazed at the response it received. Both Health24 and a magazine in Australia emailed to ask for permission to re-post the story. It was out there for the all world to read, so the pressure to start training was ON.

On the day the post went live I was in bed with the flu, and didn’t run for most of that week. A few days later I woke up feeling good. A mate of mine who is a running machine, and is currently training for the Two Oceans Ultra Marathon, said he’d be keen to join me for my first trot. I reluctantly accepted his invitation but I didn’t really want him to run with me. The bloke runs 20 to 30 kilometres a day, so the thought of a lousy four with me was probably not the most enthralling.

We ran the four kilometres and I was ok. It took 29 minutes, but that didn’t bother me. I sheepishly said goodbye to my friend and assumed he was probably going to go for a proper run once he got home. It wasn’t a convincing run by any means, but I felt so motivated and exhilarated at the reality of having my feet on the road again.

The following Monday I woke up rejuvenated and with the feeling I’d been craving for 14 months. That desire just to run- the simple yearning to feel the vibrations in your shins when your feet hit the tar. I ran the same four kilometre route, but this time in 22 minutes. It felt amazing. No tiredness, no pain, no problem!

Tuesday was back to normal: the same four kilometre distance, but in 27 minutes. It was bitter-sweet. I was happy at my progress, but couldn’t help thinking that before my operation, this measly distance had been a warm-up run for me.

I took a rest day on Wednesday and attempted five kilometres on Thursday. I ended up doing five and a half, due to getting lost in the suburbs. I lost track of both my direction and the time, but I wasn’t worried – just happy to have completed the mileage. On Friday I did another five kilometres with my mate. It took us a long 34 minutes, but I was still fairly happy with it.

This week Tuesday I did my longest run yet – I haven’t measured the route, but I assume it’s somewhere between five and a half and six kilometres. If you’re a Cape Town runner you’ll know all about the Cape Doctor. That guy hit me with full force on the way home so I’ll forgive myself for taking some extra time.

So in total I’ve completed about 28 kilometres in six runs in just over a week. While it’s obviously not enough, I’m stoked with my progress and I can’t wait to hit the road more and more. I’m a few baby steps closer to that half marathon and feeling more motivated than ever. See you at the starting line!