Five days a week, I do my therapy exercises and some running. I prefer the discipline of being on a training program, so I put myself on Hal Higdon's intermediate 5K schedule.
In the middle of the eight weeks, a six-mile run and a 35-minute tempo run left me in agony. Last Thursday, during a slow but excruciating three-miler, I sincerely considered hanging it up for good. I had a good decade as a runner; perhaps it was time to admit it was over.
Then I rested for two days and ran a test 5K - not a real race, but a 3.1 mile run on my own for which I wore my racing shoes and ran as fast as I could.
The result was 19:31. Nowhere near my skills from six months ago, but a triumph considering all that has happened.
The training schedule will end on June 21, when I should run a real 5K, but for now I have no plans to do so. It is still too frustrating to think that it will be a half of a year since my injury and I am still struggling.
But there is progress. Slow, painful progress. But still, undeniable progress.
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