I Miss Running

Let's be fair - I could've (maybe should've) renamed this blog: I love these towns because part of the deal here is my being in love with cities. The "running" part has been a little lacking in the last few years. I decided 2020 would be the year I began really running again, but we all know 2020 wasn't about to be told what to do.

Earlier this year my friends and I registered for a half marathon the first weekend in October. This was the year I was going to get back into half marathon shape. I've had a four-year hiatus after 22 half marathons, but I was ready to get back into it. 

I bought new running shoes online because of COVID and paid way too much money for new Smartwool socks (my favorite).  I began logging more consistent miles in March and April, and I felt pretty great. I ran a virtual 10k on April 11. It was pretty slow (1:10:46 which is 17 minutes slower than my PR of 53:46) but I was back.

A few weeks later I was in the hospital with a bowel obstruction, and I basically would be starting over. But I jumped right back into it, and by early August was running 6 miles again on the weekends. 

On August 9 I ended up in the hospital again with another obstruction. This time I was there four days, and it took the wind out of my sails. I ran again nine days after I was released from the hospital, but my drive to log lots of miles was gone. The half marathon was canceled because of COVID, as was my motivation.

This fall my Crohn's symptoms have been pretty steady, and I was told in December I would need surgery. Then they backed off that and said I needed a procedure before scheduling surgery. The procedure, on November 5, did not go as planned, so I have another, more invasive procedure on December 1. Right now running isn't exactly in the cards.

But it will be, and I'm committing to start the new year off with miles. If (fingers crossed) my Crohn's issues can be addressed with medicine and not surgery, I'm planning to run every day in the month of January. If I post it here that will keep me accountable, right? I'd love to start running half marathons again, but I'll focus on consistency to start.

I continue to be amazed at what the human body can handle, and I'm trying to be kind to myself. But I miss the way my body and more importantly my mind feels when I run. Fingers crossed I'll be back to it soon.

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