The headline is not a typo; I really did thunk today.
I had not been running since Sunday, not a good idea when the Boilermaker 15K is a mere month away. I blame the Canadian wildfires, which have rendered the skies such a freaky sepia tone. With my breathing problems, I did not care to go out there and huff and puff. I know, I could have stayed inside and run in place on the mini-tramp. I felt too tired. Judge me if you choose.
Today I felt equally tired, but the air was so much more clear! There was blue sky and clouds. The sun looked like the sun, not that scary orange disc! How could I not run?
And yet my body rebelled. My knees hurt, my hip joint felt out if whack. I questioned my ability to run 15Ks in July or even at all ever. So I said to myself, Just Try. For one reason, I had to do laundry. What else was I going to do while the washer washed? Just Try, I repeated to myself as I got changed into running clothes. Once I had the sports bras on, I knew I would get out there and do something.
A few steps down the sidewalk, I felt like, hey! I can so run! I’m going to do this! That feeling lasted to the corner, which was only about three houses away. No matter. I had started; I would persevere.
Persevere I did. I ran slow. I ran thunkily (autocorrect seems to believe that is a word now). I huffed and puffed. I coaxed myself on a little at a time. Just get to that truck that’s parked over the sidewalk. Just get to the corner. I looked at my Garmin and calculated how much further would make one mile. .73… .54… .39…
My first (OK, my only) mile was 13:30. That is really not too bad for me. Could I make it to 20 minutes? I kept thunking. Maybe a 17 minute run would be acceptable. By virtue of running past my house to the corner and back to the house, I made it to 20. Score!
My hip was hurting a bit, so I cut my cool-down walk short. I had a problem with that hip about a year ago and did not run for a month. Then again, perhaps I could have started running again sooner. I’m no expert on hip joints.
I felt happy and relieved that I ran. I am also happy that I did laundry. Now I don’t have to have Dirty Pants Friday. Um, not that I would ever do that.
Mohawk Valley Girl 