This has been a wonderful month for running, and I have been loving it. Good weather, good energy, a couple of new routes - what's not to love?!

Such a contrast from last year, when I was still recovering from my injury, adding distance slowly, always worried that the pain would start up again and that would mean more time off. Suddenly, running wasn't the familiar and energizing workout, but a mix of enjoyment and anxiety. To a degree that's never quite gone away, unfortunately. Once you've had an injury - and perhaps I was lucky to go 12 or 13 years without one - there's always a faint worry that there's another one around the corner.

But "always" doesn't mean "every single minute", and in the last week I've had some highly enjoyable runs. Brief summaries:

Last Wednesday - it was raining so I ran on the indoor track, for just under an hour. About 30 or 35 minutes with my running buddy, then the rest alone. For the last half hour I made an effort to pick up the pace and the total must have been about 11 km. A little sad to be inside, but a good run overall.

Last Friday - good weather again - perfect weather, in fact - and we did the route that takes us over to a school, several laps around the track there, then back for some laps around the park. Again, it was about an hour, and we maintained a good speed throughout. I ran alone for the last 15 minutes or so, and again tried to pick up the pace and have a strong finish. One good thing about running with my running buddy is that we start slow and warm up. On my own, I always have good intentions, but tend to start speeding up almost immediately.

Monday - I was running alone, and it's now dark again early in the morning, so I stayed on the well-travelled main road and did the route with the long slow hill. Noting as I did so that the hill is much longer and steeper without company! Up to the top and back as far as the park took about 25 minutes, and then I did 6 1/2 laps of the park, for about an hour in total by the time I got back to the gym. I'm not sure what was going on with me - for some reason my pace was faster than usual and I really couldn't make myself slow down for any extended stretches. Someone else I know from the gym was out running in the park - I caught up to him and thought it would be good to slow down and run with him for a while, but found myself taking off. In any event, I felt great afterwards, and since, so no complaints. Maybe having the weekend off running provided some extra energy, maybe it was just the crispness of the air. Whatever works...!

Today - another good run. Again, like last Friday, perfect weather. Cool but not at all cold, calm, bright - just a fantastic day to be outside running early in the morning. We did the same route as last Friday and again I ran for about an hour. Towards the end I added some intensity, but not as much as Monday. Just a nice, energizing, satisfying run. The kind that sort of sits in the background and buoys you up all day.

In other good news, DH's foot is mostly better and he's started running again, up to about a half hour. So we have started heading out together and coming back together, although not running together in between. It's nice to see him back at it :)

Assuming the rain that's predicted for tonight and tomorrow lets up, my running buddy and I are planning to go out again Friday morning. Maybe we'll do the hill route. Always nice to finish off the week with something that pushes you :)

So, after a weekend that was half relaxation and half chores, yesterday morning's run was pretty good. My running buddy and I did the route with the long slow hill, which both of us found a little more effort than a week before. But just having someone along helps you keep going and it never seems as long as when you do it on your own. Plus you know there's a long slow downhill on the way back. We then did a couple of rounds of the park before he headed back; I had time for one more. It was perfect autumn running weather - 5 or 6 C, quite calm, sunny. It would have been nice to keep going.

The weather forecast for tomorrow morning is warm - about 7 C - but possibly wet, so I'm not sure whether I'll be running inside or out. Although I've built up a pretty good assortment of running clothes, it doesn't include stuff to wear in the rain, mostly because I have always just avoided it. There was one spring half marathon that was cold, with intermittent bits of rain and even some hail, but mostly the weather has been okay. That's bound to change at some point and it would make sense to invest in some rain gear. Some time.

Inside or out, I would like to get past the 10 km mark tomorrow, maybe even as far as 12 km, which would mean running for about an hour instead of 50 minutes. Work is busy but not impossible so arriving a bit late wouldn't be a problem.

Something I am still enjoying is not being as concerned with distance and time per km as in the weeks leading up to the September half marathon. I still keep track of the time, and have a feel for the overall pace, but am quite happy to just know approximately how much distance that was. It would be good to do a long weekend run and track the distance, just to make sure that I'm not kidding myself about my current average speed, but for now it's wonderful to run just for the enjoyment of the motion. After Christmas it will be time to get more serious about the distances. Especially if DH and I sign up for the 30 km run at the end of March. Big IF there. I am such a wimp about running outside when it's cold and windy. The key would be to find somebody to do the whole route with, but that's a real challenge. F1 (if he signs up) is faster than me, and DH is slower. Our friends who suggested the run will do it together, at her pace, which is about the same as DH. My running buddy used to do marathons - he was in the 1976 Olympics - but at 60 he limits himself to 10 km or less. Incredibly, my circle of friends and acquaintances is not exactly overflowing with people who want to run 30 km on a Sunday morning in March.

Cats are asking for attention :)

It feels like a long time since I've posted anything; it must be a couple of weeks, anyway.

Nothing major to report at this point. I have been running three times a week, between 8 and 10 km each time, and feeling good. DH and I keep talking about going for a run on the weekend, but something always comes up. I think it will be easier once the autumn yard/garden work is over. Now that standard time has returned, there is literally only the weekend available to do the simplest things outside.

The good news about the return of standard time is that it's light enough at 6:30 a.m. for me to be comfortable running outside by myself. Monday morning I had a very solid run - 10 km or so - and felt SO good afterwards. I loved being outside in the crisp air. There was a lot of wind on the weekend, so in the park where I run there were all kinds of dry leaves underfoot.

It's a lot cooler outside then it was a month ago, so running outside involves wearing more layers. Right now my outfit of choice is: long running pants, long sleeved running shirt, sweatshirt, breathable wind-stopping gloves, and lightweight fleece headband to keep my ears warm. Until Friday the temperature at the beginning of a run was somewhere between 3 and 5 C; yesterday it was the coldest so far, only about 1 C. My running buddy and I each told our spouses that going outside that day was "up to the other one", and we did decide to go out. It was actually not bad and warmed up considerably during the 40 minutes or so that we were out.

It won't be long before the mornings are dark, and it gets much colder, and I'll be running inside only. So even if the conditions are marginal, if I can run outside, that's my preference. It's cool today, predicted high only around 5 C, but starting Monday it's supposed to be warmer. That should mean some good runs next week.

Quick note: although I said I'm "feeling good", I should clarify that I'm not 100% certain what's happening with my hip. It doesn't feel anything like it did last year when it was injured. But sometimes I get this vague overall sensation that it's not exactly the same as the hip on the other side. No real pain, nothing to convince me that I shouldn't run. So I'm not pushing too hard - no running two days in a row, for example.

And now back to mundane household stuff.