Sixty five days after a 360 degree cut around the belt line, I went for a run. Saturday morning, Swords, 3.9 kilometres in just under 50 minutes of walk-run blocks. Slow by any standard except the one that matters: it happened.
The tapes came off this week. Eight weeks of compression garments, dressings and silicone, done. The clinic signed off on light cardio, and light is exactly what this was. Ten degrees out, which felt chilly standing in the driveway, so I overdressed, and by the last block I was far too warm. A classic first day back mistake. With winter coming, it is not a problem I will have for long.
The number I like most from the file: average heart rate 123. My swim at Valencia averaged 131. The slowest run of my life was also the calmest my heart has been in anything this site has recorded. There is something in that.
The pace was over ten minutes per kilometre. Before the surgery my easy runs were 7:10. That gap is not a problem, it is the plan. The training chart on this site has a pink line where the bars stop, and a note underneath that always said the first weeks back would look tiny. This is the first tiny bar. It counts double.
From here it builds the boring way: walk-run blocks, daily walks, the pool now that the incisions are closed, arms in the gym without troubling the chest. Core and everything else unlocks at twelve weeks, the start of November. Tom Brennan on New Year's Day is 83 days away. Cervia is 344.
The long way back to the start line started on a chilly Saturday morning in October, wearing one layer too many, with the heart rate of a man out for a stroll. It was perfect.