Couch to 10k...again!

It's been a while.  My last run*, just me and my running kit, was 2 months ago.  Yesterday, complete with a hangover that was much milder than it deserved to be, I set out into the cold morning air and I ran.  Not only was I still a little drunk, but I was also scared.  My injured knee had only ever been painful when under stress so I had no real way of knowing if I was fit to run or not, I also didn't want to do myself any more damage.  At least this time I was wearing a new pair of trainers, trainers suited to my pronating feet.

I decided to start small and went back to my first ever recorded run route.  One lap of Cross Flatts Park. 1.22 miles, just short of 2k, with a couple of climes and a flight of stairs who anybody who has taken part in Cross Flatts parkrun will be only too aware of.  I took a deep breath and set off, slowly.

It took me just shy of 12 minutes to get round, well off my pre-injury pace, but I got round in one piece.  My knee hadn't flared up, I wasn't out of breath, I hadn't broken much of a sweat, and I wanted to run more.  I stopped myself from setting off for a second lap and went home to care for my hangover with crumpets.

This morning at work I opened up my running schedule, a document which I hadn't looked at since 16th August.  My first task was to delete all of the runs that I had planned in August and September.  weeks of 0 miles shone back at me off my monitor, then I scrolled down.  In 4 weeks time it's the Abbey Dash!

I have 4 weeks to get back from not running at all to completing one of the UKs most iconic 10k races.  I was never going to set the world a light but with only 4 weeks to train I'm not sure if my legs will have it in them to cross the finish line in front of Leeds Town Hall.

Running schedule for the next 4 weeks.

I've rewritten my running schedule following my physio's advice.  I'm sticking to short runs every other day to start with, to help remind my legs what they are capable of.  Unfortunately this means my first 10k after injury will be on race day, but, as long as I'm sensible, I will running a race which looked out of reach a couple of weeks ago. 

I'd love to hear what you think of the above plan. Too much too soon, about right, fine as long as it's slow, not far enough?  All advice taken with a pinch of salt, probably on a huge pile of carbs before the Dash!

*not including a brilliant Art Run organised by Veggie Runners.