I thought that I had published this yesterday, but didn’t. So here it is.

Today marked a significant milestone in my recovery journey back to running. At least to me it is. For the first time since my knee injury, I ran without giving a second thought to my knee. I managed a non-stop 40-minute run, covering a little over 4 miles. And the best part? I felt like I could have kept going.

I had set out with the goal of a 40-minute run, maintaining a comfortable pace throughout. I seem to do better with shooting around on the basketball court than simply walking for 5:00 minutes for my warm-up.

The first 3 miles were at a steady 6.0 mph without any issues. Feeling good, I decided to push a bit for the last 10 minutes. I gradually increased the speed, and for the last minute, I pushed the pace up to 7.0 mph. Everything felt right, and I was pleased with my performance.

Of course, I was ready to slow down if anything felt off. I’m so close to getting back to regular running, and I didn’t want to risk a setback.

Running on the treadmill feels easier to me than running outside. I seem to run well on them, while outside, I still face some challenges (namely hills). But that’s a story for another day.

After the run, I did some weight training and resisted the urge to do my usual two laps on the indoor track. I had a great workout, and I didn’t want to push my luck.

Later in the day, I managed to cut up and drag off a large tree that came down with the remnants of Hurricane Lee and pick up several downed branches in the woodlot, all without any knee complaints. That felt like another win and as much as I really didn’t want to go work out there, it needed to be done.

To end the day, I took an easy walk to the top of the hill with Mary. Everything today felt like a step towards getting back to my old routine. I know there will be more hurdles along the way and the usual 2 steps forward, one back. But this is the kind of progress I’ve been hoping for since I injured my knee.

So, here’s to the journey ahead. It’s going to be a road with its own challenges still to overcome, but I’ll deal with them as they come about.