NYC 2 Miler April 9th 2016

What a story it's been, endless restarts to my running and endless breakdowns! Since racing 10k as part of a triathlon last September I've seen my running strengthen only to have my calf flare up again in November - since then I hadn't run more than a few hundred metres as part of an abortive rehab. With some rest, massage and osteopathy behind me though I was confident enough to try a tentative jog while in New York so I entered the 2 mile race determined to run slowly and see how things went.

It was a clear, sunny and cold morning with the usual pre race joy heightened by the presence of 30 or so marathon runners on the course who had started an hour before, doing our annual invitational event which had been relocated to the Jamaica High School course from Flushing Meadow. Lap 1 was slow and tentative - I kept expecting pain or strain to start in my calf muscle and everything did feel stiff and uncomfortable but gradually I loosened up and came through the half way mark in around 8.45. OMG, so slow, but I was glad I was being "sensible".

I picked it up a bit on lap 2 and had the pleasing experience of seeing 15:?? on the clock as it came into view. I sped up a little but didn't push it to a sprint finish to get under 16 minutes - that might have been risky. A sensible 16.05 and yet another rebirth of my running life. Where's it going to go this time?

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