No Pain!!!

So this weekend I took my first step out for a run and I'll be honest I was very nervous. 

Nervous to find out if I still had pain in my Achilles tendon. 

Nervous to see how out of shape I have gotten in the last month with not running. 

I finally purchased some longer tights and headed out Saturday afternoon.  And it wasn't all that bad.  It was cold but thankfully not that windy.  My breathing was all over the place and I had to really pay attention to it to keep it calm and smooth. 

It felt great to be out again.  I was definitely slower and definitely could tell I had lost some of my endurance but was shocked when I finished that I did 1.5 miles.  I was just wanting to do a mile test run.  And best of all, there was very little pain in my heel.  I walked around the block a few times after I finished running and the pain was gone.  Got home and stretched more and I was fine.  No pain! 

It is a Christmas miracle!!! 

Now to focus on building up my strength again and make sure that I stretch better before and afterwards.  I think if I make sure I do that I'll be golden!! 

My only thing now is deciding if I want to join a gym to run inside this winter or just run when I can this winter outside.  Part of me wants to join a gym just because then I know I'll be able to work out daily even if the weather is crazy but the other part of me knows that as soon as it gets nice out again, I want to be outside running. 

For you runners out there....what do you do?  Do you run in the snow and ice?  After Saturdays run in the afternoon I had to be careful to avoid the icy spots and I'm not sure I would have seen those if it had been dark out, which it would be normally through the week when I'm running. 

Decisions decisions!!  Please share your thoughts!!

Merry Christmas Eve!!