week 12

Dear blog,

(To quote another blogger), it has been way too long since we last connected. Let's catch up :-)

A long time ago (in a galaxy far, far away) I had a nice 10 mile run. It was a beautiful Hawaiian morning. Clouds over the mountains (first 2 miles), sun and more sun near the park (the rest of the run). I ran fast (well, not that fast - I still run a 10 minute mile). It felt good (to be finished).

Then I got sick. At first it was a sore throat and that achy feeling. Eck! I sent myself to bed. Next day, I was tired.....real tired. I sent myself to bed. That continued the rest of the week. Then the sneezing started. My poor students......they would ask me questions and I would start sneezing, coughing, and wheezing. They would start moving away (germs!) and then look extremely concerned when I couldn't breathe with tears streaming from my eyes. Every day was worse. I spent last weekend in bed. Instead of going for my Saturday long run, I was sneezing and coughing - entirely uncomfortable.

I hate being sick, but I learned I hated missing runs more. I thought it was wise to wait to run until at least I didn't need a tissue every minute and that I stopped wheezing.

Today I am still stuffed up, and I have soooooooooo much work. I need a break. (I need a vacation.) I decided I would try running for 20 minutes. Only 20 minutes - up the hill, then down the hill and back home. I plan on running 15 miles on Saturday so I needed to know if plans had to change.

As I laced up my shoes, I became worried. It has been a long time, and I still feel sick. The work (grading, researching a paper) was looming over my shoulder.

I started slow and instantly broke into a smile. Sigh! Oh running, we have such a love/hate relationship, but I have missed you. As I headed up the hill, I took a deep breath. Wait! I took a deep breath! I could BREATHE! While I didn't go far, I went far enough to know that I am running 15 miles this weekend :-)