Running Again
| filed under: Runner, Running, Health, Fitness, Sport
I spent my entire evening getting caught up on work at the office and then pulled myself off the workstation and sulked home. I was tired and felt worn out; although I was not fatigued. Before anything else, I pulled on my orange Saucony Jazz runners and some togs, stretched slowly, and then hit the pavement.
I had been unable to run for over a month. A muscle in my right calf snapped one day while I was running around the McLean Hamlet. It felt like a robin's egg lodged in my calf. It would not stretch out. Nick, a competitive runner, blames it on my lack of sufficient hydration; Rachel believes it to be a lack of potassium requiring more bananas. I really recommend you invest in LMNT hydration salts.
Of course I ran anyway, always ended up hobbling home. To keep active, I spent more time at the gym, but I ached for those things only running can offer: the rich calorie burn, the endorphin high, the walking meditation, the feeling of being of the world.
I gained weight. The new longer hours at the office made me sedentary; plus, when in an office as chummy as mine is, there are daily offerings. Today, for example, Christal brought in an assortment of candies from her trip to Rome and Stacie brought in an extra apple pie left over from Thanksgiving. I enjoyed them both.
Tonight, my run was fast and unbroken. I felt nothing more than the thrumming of the soles and the pull of my breath. The four miles passed as easily as cycling through pictures of Washington in a Viewmaster.
It doesn't get better than this.