Back on the Run
Today I am grateful for our dog Oliver and how he reminds me to lighten up. I am also grateful for a working computer.
Yesterday was a good day. I got to do two of my favorite things. After not running for two weeks, I took my first post-surgery run yesterday morning. It felt great to be out there. I only went for twenty minutes and kept it at an easy pace, but I sure enjoyed it and I appreciated that everything felt okay. It is a challenge for me when I can't run. I rely on the release, the endorphins, the time outside, and the time to myself that running gives me. It is in my blood and I don't like to go without this physical nourishment.
As I ran down the first half-mile of trail after leaving our house, I recalled other times when I have taken memorable "recovery" runs. Five years ago right now, I was between my first and second rounds of chemo. I always kept walking during chemo, but would have to take days off from running. When I did run, it not only helped me physically deal with all things cancer and chemo, it helped me emotionally, mentally, and spiritually deal with it too.
After my bilateral mastectomies in December of 2008, I remember taking that first flat-chested, single-layered run down the same stretch of trail the following spring when the weather got warmer. I had gotten used to running flat, but usually with layers, to protect me from the elements and from my own level of vulnerabilty. When the layers came off, I fully came to accept my revised body and today I appreciate the ease of running "free." (Free of vulnerability and free of constricting bras.)
Speaking of recovery, my other favorite thing yesterday was spending time with some of my recovery friends. They share the wisdom and hope I need to hear, and we laugh and commiserate.I can't speak for them, but I leave our time together feeling better equipped to face the next 24 hours.
Yesterday was a good day. I got to do two of my favorite things. After not running for two weeks, I took my first post-surgery run yesterday morning. It felt great to be out there. I only went for twenty minutes and kept it at an easy pace, but I sure enjoyed it and I appreciated that everything felt okay. It is a challenge for me when I can't run. I rely on the release, the endorphins, the time outside, and the time to myself that running gives me. It is in my blood and I don't like to go without this physical nourishment.
As I ran down the first half-mile of trail after leaving our house, I recalled other times when I have taken memorable "recovery" runs. Five years ago right now, I was between my first and second rounds of chemo. I always kept walking during chemo, but would have to take days off from running. When I did run, it not only helped me physically deal with all things cancer and chemo, it helped me emotionally, mentally, and spiritually deal with it too.
After my bilateral mastectomies in December of 2008, I remember taking that first flat-chested, single-layered run down the same stretch of trail the following spring when the weather got warmer. I had gotten used to running flat, but usually with layers, to protect me from the elements and from my own level of vulnerabilty. When the layers came off, I fully came to accept my revised body and today I appreciate the ease of running "free." (Free of vulnerability and free of constricting bras.)
Speaking of recovery, my other favorite thing yesterday was spending time with some of my recovery friends. They share the wisdom and hope I need to hear, and we laugh and commiserate.I can't speak for them, but I leave our time together feeling better equipped to face the next 24 hours.
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