Come back run

It's a day that has been coming for a while, that you've been looking forward to like a kid looks forward to xmas, and yet the actual date has been uncertain…which only magnifies the anxiety and excitement. So when the day finally does arrive you feel an extra spring in your stride, and simple joy in heading out the door for a run. It's blissful.

But this is no ordinary run. It is the come-back run after injury, and if it goes well then just try wiping the smile off your face because you're finally back in the game!

Sadly I've had lots of come-back runs in my time, mostly due to injury. There's never a good time to be injured, so making a come-back can never come soon enough, and fortunately the memory of the time off running fades with every step, and each new run on the come back trail. The good feeling of a come-back gets better each time, because each time I realise how much a part of my overall welfare running is.

However, come-back runs don't always end well. There is nothing like the disappointment of heading out to turn over a new leaf, only to stop short some way into the run, not by choosing, but because things have not gone right. The slow march home is defeating and depressing, as is opening the front door to family faces wondering why you're back so soon…even though they probably know. It's a feeling of failure, even though it's "only" running, especially after the anticipation…the come-back will have to wait for another day.

But when come-back runs go well it is like a light has come on again in your life, like an old friend has returned and you take joy in getting to know them all over again, re-affirming all the reasons why you got on so well in the first place. It can take some time, especially after an extended break, but that just helps to savour the familiarity and comfort of such a simple activity you depend on each day.

Often family and friends might not realise how important the missing piece is to your fabric while you can't run, as you try to gloss over it, but when you are 'complete' again and status quo returns, there's no mistaking the spring in your step and excitement in your outlook. The come-back run means so much, not the least that you'll never take running for granted again.