Running in the rain
Posted on | July 12, 2006 |
I went running for the first time today since our move six weeks ago. It felt a bit like remembering how to bike again after a long hiatus: the synchronized action of my limbs following the kinesthetic blueprint of forward motion.
I never wrote about not running the marathon, but I didn’t, and it made me sad for weeks. Part of the reason I didn’t run was because we moved THE VERY NEXT DAY, and that was entirely poor and ridiculous timing (what WAS I thinking when I scheduled it?) But most of the reason was because I developed a stress fracture during the latter half of my training program and despite dutiful trips to the physical therapist and cool green orthotics for my shoes, my shin would hurt excruciatingly for days after a run and eventually I was forced to weigh my options. Run the marathon and be injured for the summer or, skip it, move to our new with a wholly functioning body, and enjoy the rest of the summer sports that I so dearly love.
So I didn’t run, and then suddenly I was immersed in the massive project of unpacking in an unfinished house, and somehow six weeks have whipped by in a blur. But I’ve missed running. A little like a craving, a listlessness in my tendons at night. So today when I leapt off the front stoop and took off down our winding gravel drive, I was grinning.
It felt so good. And it felt so bad.
Do you know how much muscle tone you loose if you just up and take six weeks off of any regular exercise? A lot. Throw in weaning a baby, and the ensuing hormone restructuring, and it’s a sure-fire recipe for feeling the way I imagine sea turtles must, loafing their way up some sandy escarpment to make a nest.
A four mile run took me a lot longer than a four mile run did a month and a half ago, and afterwards I sat in the corner of the couch and begged for someone to make me a PBJ and a glass of milk because I couldn’t move. But surprisingly, during the run I was so distracted by the beauty of this place where I live that I barely noticed how unmistakably plod-like my gate was.
The wet air was fragrant. Everything is in bloom or fruit now: raspberries are ripe along the hedgerows, and elder berry blossoms, burdock, cornflowers, and Black Eyed Susans spread out across the fields like a thousand speckled suns. And somehow, the time mostly went by without my noticing.
It is inevitable I’ll feel it tomorrow. I’ve started to notice how my body no longer forgets the cumulative effects of the things I do to it each day. But there’s something of value in having one’s attention be focused on one’s body in this way: noticing it for the things it can do, for the way it feels, rather than simply for the way it looks. I’m ready for this again—especially after spending a week on the beach being all too aware of how I appear to the rest of the world.
(You know how the flight attendant always cautions that “your baggage may have shifted during the flight,” ? Let’s just say this is a good way to describe my physical accoutrements as well, since Bean. )
Comments
9 Responses to “Running in the rain”
Leave a Reply
July 12th, 2006 @ 11:15 pm
Ahh, the baggage definitely shifts after having a baby. Good luck getting everything back into its proper place.
July 12th, 2006 @ 11:50 pm
So glad you got back to this thing that makes you grin. Before you know it, you’ll be back to prime and having a total blast, making your own PB&J’s!
July 13th, 2006 @ 12:51 am
HA! I love that baggage analogy. It’s so ironic because I just ran again the other day for the first time in forever. And, I know of the aching muscles that you speak here several days later even. gah–I’m old!
I’m on the fence with doing a half-marathon training program right now too–for the very reason of what happened to you. Couple that with my flat feet and numerous previous foot injuries and it makes me nervous.
July 13th, 2006 @ 3:06 am
Sorry to hear that you didn’t run the marathon, but sometimes you have to weigh your options, like you said. And you’ll get your legs back soon - it’s always easier refinding your form than finding it the first time around.
July 13th, 2006 @ 7:42 am
BIG sigh for that beautiful luggage/baggage shifting analogy. Try adding a four and a zero to your stats and the shifting really begins…..BIG sigh. But you’re right, it’s incredible to appreciate what your body can do and that’s a much more positive focus than the woulda-coulda-shoulda’s that I can remember from the good ol’ days, when I’d saunter around in summer attire.
July 13th, 2006 @ 8:21 am
I noticed that you were running a lot and then all of the sudden, running around like crazy finishing your house. How has 6 weeks gone by do quickly? Tomorrow it will be 2 months since our house “flood” and it’s hard to believe that time can go by THAT fast. Good for you for staying active, and I’m sure that even post-Bean, you’re more in-shape than you give yourself credit for.
July 13th, 2006 @ 9:22 pm
i wish that i were
not so selfconcious
about doing anything athletic
that i could let myself
try
even…
but i have always sucked
at any sport
and that has stayed with me
since elementary school.
funny.
good thing all my other quirks
from elementary finally went away…
(unable to make friends, often
immobilized by stress, unexplained
crying jags)
or i’d be a mess.
heh heh.
July 14th, 2006 @ 11:05 pm
It gets worse as I get older, this forgetfulness of my body to the way it was only weeks before. So it hurts me when I take breaks from exercise. I’m glad to see you’ve started running once again. And what a gorgeous way to get your run–isn’t it infinitely better than the lameass treadmill?!
August 3rd, 2006 @ 6:05 pm
Christina,
You inspired me to run this weekend. I haven’t run much at all since I came to vermont in Feb. I think Saturday is the day. Listlessness takes its toll.