So, back for the future with time and motion It's about four months since I had surgery on my back, and the time has gone quickly since. This preseason has been the longest one I have ever done, and it's gone really well. But it's impossible to know how the next two weeks might go, or how I'm going to cope. My back's fine, and I have confidence in it for the first time in a long time. But the rest of my body needs to get used to playing matches again, and it's hard to know how long that will take. The surgery was in September. I didn't do very much the week before the operation, then I had the surgery and for about 16 or 17 days I did nothing at all. I basically spent all day, every day in bed. I spent a lot of time playing Grand Theft Auto on the Playstation, and I had a doctor come round a couple of times to look at the wound and the scar. Andy Murray in training for the Open. I needed that to heal before I could start to move around properly, or even start to just walk again. That was hard, but I didn't find it too difficult. I think that's because my back had been causing so many problems for so long. Having the surgery was a decision I had made. It was not as though I hurt myself in one match and was told I would have to be out for five or six months. Mentally, I was prepared for the recovery, and for not being able to train, so it wasn't that bad. I had been dealing with the injury for a long time, 18 months at least. It was bad this time last year, then it got really bad playing on the clay courts. That was the worst it ever was. I took some time off before playing on the grass courts and that helped, but when I went back to play on the hard courts it got worse again. I never knew how it was going to feel on a day-to-day basis, and that was frustrating. That's another thing that made the surgery easier to deal with, because my back was hurting all day, every day. Some days I would wake up feeling horrible, and it would just get worse from there. I wasn't able to do any of the things I like to do away from the courts, so it was taking over my life, and I knew I needed to do something about it. I got to spend a lot of time at home before and after the surgery, which was actually nice. I was there for about seven weeks, which is longer than I've spent there in six or seven years. But even that was mostly just being there, seeing my family more than I usually do and seeing a lot of my friends. Once I was able to walk and move around, the rehab started almost immediately, and that was two treatment sessions a day and two rehab sessions, starting off with basic core work and light work on the bikes, then building up until I went back to Miami to train in December. It felt slow at the start, but time starts to go quickly when you realise you only have five or six weeks until the Australian Open starts. I've been working really hard, as hard as ever. I feel like I'm hitting the ball well and physically I feel really good. I just don't know how I'm going to pull up the day after a five-set match, because I haven't had to do it in so long. It's impossible to know how my body's going to cope. There are other things I need to get used to. Anticipation is such a big part of my game, and that might take a bit of time to come back against the top guys. But mostly I need to be patient and give the rest of my body time to get used to playing again. I'm confident about my back, but even with that, it wasn't until the last week or two that I knew for sure that the surgery had worked. When you are training and practicing, everything is so controlled. If you start to get tired or sore you can slow it down, but when you are playing matches you obviously don't have that option. I didn't have any setbacks during the rehab or during training so that was a good sign, but it was not until I played my first match back that I knew for sure it had worked. It's a positive that every part of me except my back has been hurting the day after matches. To be honest, I don't know exactly what will happen here in Melbourne. I haven't put any thought into how I might go, and I need to be careful about my expectations. But having said that, who knows? I'll try and get through my first match and see how I feel. If I can get myself going, get into the tournament and win a few matches then I'm sure my expectations will change. I feel like I now have a much better understanding of how to win these events and what you need to do to win one. Every day I'm feeling a little bit better. But I know I need to be patient. We'll have to wait and see. Briton Andy Murray will contribute a column throughout his journey at the Australian Open.