Running Nirvana and Om...elette.

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day.  ( A.A. Milne )

My sleep demons now mostly having been conquered by time off work courtesy of long-overdue annual leave, I took to the treadmill this morning for the simplest of 7km training runs. Not unsurpriisngly, given my lack of perambulation in recent times, it was tough going, but the task was accomplished and done so in a very positive manner. There comes a time in the return to fitness where the body seems to give up some of the toxins that have been taking over the old bod and slowing it down. These invariably come to the surface during a run in stinky, prickly sweat and sometimes expelled (forgive the imagery) in foul mucous coughed up from the lungs mid-run. This however, is quickly followed by a feeling of elation, doubtless created by a flood of barely-earned endorphins, and that ludicrous self-assessment of it being a 'job well done'.

But yeah, heck, it was only 7km. Still, these are the building blocks; the base-phase of a proper early-stages training schedule, and it felt bloody good. 

This is, of course, not unfamiliar territory for an off-again, on-again runner such as myself, and I take heart from having been here countless times before and knowing that it always ends well. The nagging doubt that one of these days it'll be just too hard to regain that level of fitness that I crave remains, but the reality is that I've many years of running still ahead of me, and the biggest hurdle is a simple mental one.

With summer nearing its end, and cooler autumnal weather approaching, conditions are ideal for running. So, no excuses, eh?