How do I find myself getting back here.

I stopped running a few years ago after some continuous injuries kept sidelining me and I realized I needed a break. Time to regroup and assess if I wanted to keep doing this at all.

Hip issues that nag every time I would go running. Exhausted from the need to constantly train. Combined with an overly busy workload and family life. There seemed to be a lot of good reasons to hang it up and get into something different. Tennis? Curling? I’ve always needed things to keep me busy. Even got into indoor rock climbing a few times a week and was slowly getting better at it (well, at least by my standards.)

I felt like I wasn’t missing the running. Piss poor weather. Cold mornings. Pass. I had been doing it for a few years, and had tackled the races I wanted. Now what.

Fast forward to Covid. Everything closed down. Rock climbing. Out. Community centers. Out. In fact the only place I was allowed was… Out. Outside. I spent most of the spring and summer cycling around and hiking whenever I could. But needed something more.

After completing a virtual adventure race this fall, I had to admit to myself I was quite happy with the trail running portion. Not that I was pain free, but it was a reminder of what running was. Freedom. The thrill of just taking off in any direction, over any terrain. Just going.

Shortly after that virtual race, I signed up for a few more virtual running races. And armed with my old running partner Candace, we began knocking them off. 1 miler, 5km, 7.5km, 10km.

Which brings me to here and now. I found myself stopping by Atmosphere yesterday, picking up a new pair of trail runners. Candace and I talked about continuing on with training after the Christmas break. Part of me is excited to get back out there and push the limits again, and part of me is thinking “what the hell am I getting myself into… again.”

Not sure what I am setting out to achieve this year for running. But I’m sure it’s a lot more than I thought I would be doing.

Cheers.