Spring in my step

Beautiful morning for a run today. I think it was in to double degrees C for the first time in months and having to squint into bright sun too meant it felt like Spring was not so far away as we've all been thinking lately.  I'm not going to lie, last Monday morning after my 5 miles around Holyrood Park on the Sunday, I needed 15 minutes stretching and a couple of paracetamol to get back to feeling 'at ease'. The difference this week, though, is that it didn't get worse over the next few days, it recovered and I managed a good gym outing on Wednesday night too.

I was aiming to do 5 miles again this Sunday, but on a flatter route this time as I knew I'd be on my bike later and didn't want to over-do it.  So I headed round to Fishwives causeway, then the full length of the prom at Portobello, before heading home past the golf course and through Figgate Park.

Unbelievable how many people were out and about running, on their bikes, or even playing rugby on the beach like the young Portobello hornets below.  Great to see so many people out enjoying themselves and not giving up on their resolutions yet!

Anyway, we'll see how everything feels tomorrow morning but today it felt really good to be out. I can't pretend my back felt 100%, but these things are never certain.  I reckon if you asked 100 club runners at the start of a race how they were feeling, 85 of them would tell you about their current niggle and why they're not sure how they'll do.  I've been told by various physios, chiropractors and so on that I'm good at pinpointing where I'm having trouble and explaining the nature of it, but it's still difficult to know precisely what the story is with any real confidence when you've had an injury like mine and you're trying to come back.  Is it vertebrae and irritated nerves (i.e. the original issue)? Is it muscles or ligaments that are out of practice, or that you're using in a different way now you've been 're-aligned'?  Or even, is it in your mind because you're paranoid about every little twinge you think might be there?

It's a slow business, and it's difficult to stay optimistic all the time about future prospects, but today I was just grateful to be out, running easy and enjoying the sunshine and the scenery.  Can't say fairer than that.

Onwards and upwards I say - here's to more good runs and spring sunshine over the coming months!