When you can't run...

There's nothing quite like going through a time when you can't run. Sure, sometimes we take days off, but it's different when you CHOOSE to take a day off. And even when life intrudes and schedules fly out the window and the run just can't happen... But when you're sidelined, on the injured-reserve list, there's a certain emotionally painful jealousy seeing others running on a sunny day. Oh, sure, you don't wish them ill. At least I hope not. I think it's a lot like a wolf pack -- when the pack hunts, the deisre is to go on the hunt with the pack.

I went through a couple years of this after my foot surgery. And I had to get to the point that I could just let it go, convincing myself that I was done running. Otherwise I would have probably become a very bitter person.

The forelorn-ness of something lost, even if it's temporary. You know you're back-sliding in your fitness, losing speed, losing endurance, your training buddies moving forward and making it that much harder to catch up, let alone keep up.

There's good news, though. After a weekend of soreness, today my foot felt almost normal. Almost. Saturday morning, and well into the afternoon, I was on my feet, wearing my hiking boots (and I can see a whole new problematic search when these boots wear out), and though my foot was sore, there were very few "twinges" of sharp pain. Yesterday my wife and I went to the Star Wars exhibit at the Seattle Pacific Science Center, and the only issue I had was when I had to hurry uphill from the parking lot to the center. After that, it was actually mostly okay. I'm still going to give it the week off and see how it's going, but maybe, just maybe, there isn't a fracture. Doesn't give me a whole lot of comfort NOT knowing what really happened.

And yes, this is a bit of a switch from the pity party I let myself have on Friday...

So I'll give it the rest of the week before I even think about trying to run on it again. Hopefully I haven't lost too much.