The best run EVER...

It's been 46 days since my surgery, and 47 days since the last time I ran. That run had been my best run in years! (And, sadly, the farthest I had run in years). I ran just over a mile, and it felt smooth and...loose? The kind of feeling where your stride has a good cadence, you body carriage feels controlled yet you can make minute adjustments at ease... It just felt really good. I think I could have kept going that day.

Yesterday, I finally ran again. It was 32 degrees out. Cold. Like, humid cold. Oklahoma cold. Dean and I were walking the neighborhood, and I suggested running down the length of a long, straight street. We ran. I told him I had to keep it slow - VERY slow, so I wouldn't bounce anything that wouldn't react well to bouncing - like sutures, 6 weeks after surgery.

You know what? Those first few strides hurt. They really hurt. Things moved around a bit anyway. (Note to self - time to get a fitted sports bra in the new size. Not that I know what that size will be, because it changes on a daily basis.). But then after that...it kind of actually felt good. I held my upper body a little tighter than I should.. Maybe squeezed my arms inward a bit to protect what I could...but at the end of the street, I felt like I wanted more.

Dean was cold (silly man - only packed thin exercise shorts), so we swung by the house (the inlaws, where we are staying) and he stayed behind, and I grabbed my headphones. I walked for one song, and then my feet just started running. It was not a conscious decision. I ran, and ran, and ran. It. Felt. Awesome. I relaxed my upper body a bit..and then my arms. Hey!? This actually doesn't hurt! I don't feel bounce! Let me repeat that - I DIDN'T BOUNCE! For a person who is recovering from a breast reduction - this is huge. For the first time in 20+ years, it didn't hurt. It didn't look awkward, feel awkward...I was just your average runner, blending in.

I ran just over two miles. I ran two miles (in addition to the quarter mile Dean and I ran) and I daresay, I could have run more. I had a good pace (10 minute mile), I wasn't cold, the neighborhood streets were quiet, with almost no patches of ice. I got my bearings in this brand new neighborhood our inlaws moved to, and I ran in sort of a circle. I cried the last half mile - tears of happiness, not pain. I felt like I had triumphed over a nasty personal demon that has haunted me for years. I even picked up the pace at the end, for a strong finish.

Since the surgery, I have only seemed to manage three extended walks - each only slightly more energetic than the last. I've had excuses aplenty - pain, discomfort, being sick, too cold outside... So I have lost a bit of the conditioning I had built up since July. But it blows me away that out of the blue I could manage to run so well. I know that the change in altitude from Colorado to Oklahoma has everything to do with it. I plan to continue to take full advantage of it for the rest of our stay.

This also means that running a 5K on NYE is totally feasible - so I'm in!!!!!!

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