I Ran.

I feel like a new person. It's strange. After being in a certain mindset for over two years -
I can't run. It hurts. It will take days to recover.  
- Suddenly, I am back to where I was three years ago. I feel good. I can exercise daily, and I feel fine. No pain. No recovery time. I was not prepared for the shift. It's a great problem to have. I am so lucky that this was easily fixed.

On Sunday, I ran.

Andy and I are doing a c25k program to start running again. There will be a podcast about our adventures coming soon. 

So, on Sunday, we started the program. It was a warm up and intervals of walking and running. It was manageable and went so much better than I expected. I really tried to stay active as limited as I was. It helped. My strength is there. My cardio is not as bad as I thought it would be. Best of all, my heart rate did not spike. I did not feel like passing out. I felt good. When I was done, my hips did not hurt. Nothing hurt. I felt fine Monday morning. It seems so normal, but it's been so long since I could run without pain. It's messing with me.

On Monday, I did a little rowing on our new machine. It was fun, but it's going to take some work to get used to it. I only did about 10 minutes. Andy and I went for a walk up the big hill by our house and decided to add in some sprint intervals. I used to love hill sprints. It felt good, but it was definitely hard. I can't wait to do more.

If there is something positive to take from my two year hiatus, it's rediscovering my love for running. I took it for granted before. I focused on the negative. I refused to call myself a runner.
Ridiculous.
I'm coming from a different place now. I appreciated every step. I got teary-eyed thinking about how I could move without pain. I know that as the difficulty increases, I will probably have some bad runs, but I think I will keep the love this time. I'm just so happy to move again.

We're starting out slow and easy. I tend to jump in and try to do too much too soon. This time, I am focused on small goals and enjoying the process. I'm excited to focus strictly on 5ks for a while. I always added distance before, and I am sure I will again. Still, it will be fun to keep it short for a while.

Today is day two of the program. I think I'm going to go up the big hill again.  I'm just so happy to run again.

http://www.picturequotes.com/ill-be-happy-if-running-and-i-can-grow-old-together-quote-442165