Patience and persistence

Maitland Bay in the nearby Bouddi National Park

Another 5km around the streets of Copa went well on a beautiful mild sunny winter's morning.  I'm getting more optimistic about my running, though there is still pain, and will take it day-by-day for a while.  It would be nice to run a bit further in the near future, but maybe I'll leave it until the weekend.

Just as I was finishing my run, I met fellow Terrigal Trotter and Copa resident, Judy, complete with Camelbak, heading out for a long run to Killcare through Bouddi National Park.  I was very envious.  Some of the trails in the Park are rough and slow, but the scenery is breath-taking and you could be a million miles from civilisation.


Part of the Bouddi Coastal Walk

Judy is a late-comer to running, though with plenty of outdoor adventuring in her past.  She has become a keen trail-runner who planned to run The North Face 50km a few months ago, until badly tearing a calf muscle leaping a creek during a Club training run in March.

I'm sure Judy won't mind me saying that she exemplifies a number of my club-mates at Trotters who are ordinary people finding themselves doing extraordinary things.  Starting with some short slow runs, their confidence in their capability has grown to the point where they are now tackling events that would have seemed unimaginable to them ten years ago.  A club, such as Terrigal Trotters, helps this progression through a providing a supportive environment and the opportunity for shared experiences with like-minded people.

It was encouraging to see Judy out tackling a long run, not only because I'm happy to see she has recovered from her serious injury, but because it is confirmation to me that with patience and persistence, I'll be able to follow her example and be back to fitness in the not-too-distant future.