Missing running? Really?

Date: Sunday, December 9, 2018

Distance: 5.40 miles/8.69 km 

Listened to: Bristol 10 km playlist…again!

In case you think I had dropped off the face off the earth since my last post…I am still alive! However, I have been laid low with a virus. As soon as I stopped  running regularly, the sore throat and cough got me followed by two weeks of just feeling weak.

The end of the three weeks coincided with me watching the film, Les Miserables, which was not good on the dying dad front! I did not think that one through! The blend of Hugh Jackman’s dying lament, three weeks of feeling rubbish and a lack of the happy dust that gets released when you exercise meant the tears ran freely and the grief came back with a vengeance.

Even before that rather miserable moment, I had been feeling twitchy. I am not a patient poorly person but, worse, I really struggled with not exercising. More specifically, I missed running!

What has happened to me? Who is this weird person I have become?

I missed plodding along the lanes with my music, podcast or thoughts for company. I missed the challenge of making my body move. I missed breathing in the fresh air and taking in the views. Running is so much more than running.

Then I started panicking that I would not be able to run again after a three-week lay-off.

I returned to the treadmill last Monday and sweated out three slow miles, and then again on the Friday, before heading outside on Sunday. Circumstances meant I ended up tackling a challenge that had been on my to-do list by running/walking the peaks and troughs of the old road from Kingsbridge to Salcombe. It was 5.4 miles from my door to my Mum’s, including a slight detour down a farm track, but I could still run and it felt good.

It also marked the first time I had run outside in December. I had always been put off by shuffling along in the colder months because of my asthma but it was actually mild enough not to be a problem. The issue is the shorter days. It is hard to find a time to run in the light when you have work, children, etc. to juggle.

However I fit running in, I know I need to. I think I am supposed to keep running. I have even lost a toenail from running. That must be a sign!

I have come challenges I want to conquer too.

Until then, I need to get through scattering my Dad’s ashes before the year is out. I think a run may be in order to mark the occasion and to bring this year full circle. He inspired me to take running seriously so the least I can do is to keep going when he can’t.

#runningfordad #slowrunningisstillrunning #kingsbridge2salcombe