White Flag

Week 31: September 28 - October 5

Run: 0 km
Bike: 0 km
Swim: 0 km

The white flag is waving, the towel is in the ring, my hands are up and I'm screaming "Uncle". This is all to say - I give up! I have done nothing this week - I have not ridden a bike, I have not gone for a jog and I have yet to dip my toe in the pool. I have spent the entire week wallowing in self pity as my lungs continue to produce phlegm at an unreasonable rate. Any fantasies I had about doing the Victoria marathon has dissipated and I'm not even sure I'll be able to walk it with Mom. The idea of doing Seattle at the end of November is even starting to look impossible.

During all the training runs and interval sets of the summer, I couldn't imagine how much I would miss running. I go to bed every night hoping that my lungs will feel strong and clean when I wake up, so I can do a small tour of the Millenium trail. Every week I re-visit the calendar to check if I've got enough time before Seattle, or Las Vegas or Honolulu, or any other pre-January 1 marathon. All I want is to get back on my feet - or more precisely get my feet back into my running shoes. I've been trying to figure out what I am missing, since during every workout I can't wait to be finished. What I've discovered is it isn't the act of running that I enjoy, it's the moments after the run that I love. It's being exhausted after powering through a long run, it's feeling the muscles in my legs before I go to sleep, it's that non-stop hunger that I know is caused by my body begging for more calories. Right after a run, my muscles are warm enough to do a proper Downward Dog (my least favorite yoga stretch) and a warm shower feels like the most luxurious spa.

I want to run....who would have thought?

Sierra posted this on Oct 07, 2008 from the livingroom | | permanent link