Returning to form

A bit of a milestone for me today, a sign that running is finally pointing in the right direction.

I had a long run today. I haven't done a dedicated long run for quite a while, the body just hasn't been up to it. But today I got to head out of my house, run for a couple of hours and then come home again. Tired but still alive, still functioning as a human. Even now, several hours later I am still going fine. The body hasn't stiffened up, or rebelled against me. I am not concerningly sore anywhere. I seem to have come through it rosy.

As well as surviving the run, it was also quicker than I was expecting. Good to see my running fitness is in better condition that I thought it was. In fact, given that this was my first long run in a long, long time, I would say I am quite happy to have this one as a starting point. It certainly could have been much worse. I would be reasonably happy with this as a finishing point actually, so a bit of me is excited to be building from here. Keen to see where this goes, as the miles get longer.

It isn't just that the run went well, but it was how it felt in the process. For the whole two hours I felt quite comfortable. I kept waiting to fall into a deep hole, but it didn't happen. I had some efforts to do, which I kept under control, on target but not too much quicker. Other than the efforts I just kept it ticking along steadily. I got to the end of the efforts still going strong and to the end of the entire run still feeling good. Achieving that is a big deal for me.

It really has been a good weekend of training. Things are starting to fall into place again. My reward for the good run today and the solid ride yesterday is that I have a day off tomorrow. Training for the next two weeks takes another step up leading into Bintan, so this could be my only respite for a little while. I am really looking forward to it, jumping into bed tonight and not setting the alarm. Magic.