I am exactly where I was when I started this blog. Yet, I am in a totally different spot.

The same, Yet so different.

It’s a good place to be. Back to no expectations. Back to just seeing what my body can do. Back to one day at a time. One run at a time. No need to think about mileage. No need to think about pace.

Just move. Move at what feels good. Move at where I am. Move for 60 seconds at a time. Run. Walk. Just keep moving. Move to find the joy.

I started the Couch to 5K today. This is what I need. This is what I want. Someone asked me why I am doing this if I just ran a marathon in November. Fair question. But I think this is the right step for me right now. It will give me a chance to go back to basics which I have skipped over. It will give me a chance to once again figure out both mentally and physically what my body needs and wants without putting preconceived notions. Just doing what I need to do and seeing where it takes me.

I put this out to friends and in my running group. I have been very pleasantly surprised how many want to also use this program to either get back to running or just start running. The beauty of this program is that anyone can do it and it is nice to have support along the way. I posted the following in the group today:

We come at this from different health issues, fitness and endurance levels, and even age. Distance and pace are not something to worry or even think about. This is about putting the time and effort in. Nothing more. Nothing less. Everything else will fall into place.

This to me is why so many of us get tripped up. We compare to what others are doing. We remember the things we used to be able to do. We doubt ourselves. This is why I am going back to basics, because I want to not think about these things. I want to put the effort in and see how it all falls into place and what I can realistically do.

It’s time to hit the reboot button. This time for real. NO expectations. No worries about hitting a goal. No race on the horizon. No signing up for races to prove something to myself. Just follow the plan. Stop trying to fight my mind and body and take control by allowing myself to make peace with where I am. To do that I need to learn and train for where I am. Every time I tried to do this since my surgery, I tripped myself up by putting expectations on what I should do. Pushing myself to do things by signing up for events. Not this time. This time, it is back to basics and I will say that I had a great first run today with all that baggage off the table.