Ahhhhh!   Finally to be out running on a winters day in the sunshine, freedom!  For the first time in a long time I have managed to complete a run pain free.  No little niggle, no excruciating ache, no tightness, no fear!  It was brilliant, its such little things in life that bring so much joy it really is.  Now not being a fast a runner it always amazes me when my pace is half decent and I can still breath, this was one of those days.  I was able to actually maintain the pace throughout the run and feel some confidence in my foot and heel, the saying 'spring in your step' comes to mind, and that's exactly how it felt!
So the temptation now is go out and blast some miles, but I am still very cautious and wary of doing this as I really really don't want this regress and I have to stop again or withdraw from events.    I have to build up my mileage slowly and strength my ankle without weakening it.  My main issue is I have an event I entered hoping I would have recovered in time next weekend so in 10 days time which is a mere 35 miles in Northumberland.  Ooooopppsss!  So the plan is going to be to finish it for sure but to go steady and have regular walking intervals to make sure I finish injury free.  That's the plan anyway ha ha!

I was thinking about my running the other day and wondered if my motivations or reasons had altered in any way, and have I become more addicted to this than before?  Difficult that I hear you say but what it has done recently, it has made me appreciate things we have and enjoy.  Inspiration, this also crossed my mind, what or who inspires me and has this changed yes and no really as I am still inspired by the same people and achievements but now there are more, the list is longer.  Take for instance Ranulph Fiennes, he was already on my list but even more so after completing the Marathon de Sables at the age of 70, wow!  How about this chap I keep reading about on Facebook called Mark Vaz, unbelievable running achievements at the moment he is running 1000 marathons back to backs I means that's ridiculous but amazing.  I just heard that Eddie Izzard is going to do 27 marathons in 27 days that's truly amazing especially when its people that don't necessarily do this already.  If you can't be inspired and motivated by these fantastic people which there are only a handful then there's no hope.  It makes me think I wonder what I could do if I actually tried!!!!