admittedly, it was pretty sweet to do nothing but sit on the couch and watch t.v. those first few days, but the novelty of being a lazy asshole wears off quick. and now i'm in this stupid state of physical purgatory in which i feel fine and can do just about anything virtually pain-free, but i still can't quite 'exercise' (i.e. do things that work my sweat glands), and i definitely can't run. even walking is slightly problematic, although that's probably only because of my tendency to push things just a little too far (it didn't feel like 3 miles, i swear). but it's not fair! i don't want to be stuck in the house all day, with nothing to do but read and nap. i want to be outside running. i want to be in the middle of training for the lake county half (which i already paid for). i want to keep working on my tan without having to actually lay out in the sun. i want to be out engaging my metabolism so that it can (at least somewhat) counteract my stomach's rampant desire for ben & jerry's half-baked frozen yogurt (which, by the way, still has more calories than most brands of regular ice cream). i want to be out enjoying the gorgeous weather in the best way i know how (you know, by running in it. in case you missed that.). i just feel so fucking antsy, and i know that even once i can start going to the gym and working up a sweat on those godawful machines (which should be any day now...), this feeling won't go away. there is a release, a happiness, a satisfaction that i get from running which doesn't happen during any other type of exercise. it's not just the bodily satisfaction of getting a good workout. there's something more--something mental, spiritual--that accompanies the tired relief of a good run and makes it about much more than calories burned or hours logged. i can't describe why exactly, but running makes me happy in a way that nothing else can.
so i just have to keep reminding myself that once this recovery time is over, my new-and-improved mutant muscles (as bw calls them) will have free reign to inhabit the asskickingness they were made for. which (hopefully) means that i will be able to thrive on running more than ever.
2 comments:
my favorite ice cream=edy's double-churned rocky road. mmm.
and I'm with you on the need to be outside--perhaps it has something to do with the fact that this horrid climate keeps us locked indoors and terrified of the outside for months on end. sigh. but fall is going to be so nice...
i do love fall here. at least i will be able to run again around the time that school starts. maybe we can do a short run together when i start back up...
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