Take Two

This morning, after letting my vat of peanut butter and banana porridge settle, I grabbed my shoes for a long run. As with most of my solo outings, I hadn't planned a route or a distance, I just wanted to be out for a couple of hours to see what I could do. Only 30 minutes in, though, it all felt like a bit of a struggle and I wasn't having fun, so I turned around and headed home.

I found a new playground

I wasn't giving up, though, and I was still determined to get a longer run done today, I just needed a different mindset. Perhaps I'd piled on too much pressure with the possibility of an impressive distance, maybe I was tired from an already quite active weekend, maybe I was worried my shins would begin to throb again, maybe it just wasn't my day...but I felt that taking a moment to gather myself and start a fresh would help.

Taking on stinging nettles, thistles and thorns in shorts was not a good idea

After a drink, stretch, a face-full of getbuzzing flapjack and a change of shoes, I stepped out the front door again and ran in the opposite direction as I had earlier, travelling at a deliberately slower pace.

Just changing a few things and taking the time for a breather did wonders for my mood. After my reset, I was more comfortable and much happier, managing to enjoy getting lost and finding new local trails. I stopped waiting for the pang of injury pain and didn't even notice when my watch's battery ran out, my focus was on exploring new places and, on the occasion, not getting hit by flying golf balls.

A bit of agility training included on my run

Taking that pause meant I ran for over three hours all together, much longer than I'd predicted. I have no idea how far I ran but that doesn't matter. I discovered that my trail-running playground is even bigger than I thought and that a fresh start works wonders.