Absence makes the running shoes grow fonder...

With all of the planes, trains, automobiles, rafts, helicopters of last week, it’s no surprise that I picked up the latest cold/flu.  It came on fast and furiously, blessing me with puffy eyes, running nose, a smoker’s cough, a persistent fever, and pure exhaustion.  A steady diet of DayQuil/NyQuil hasn’t been all that impressive in its impact, but does make working a little easier.  Of course, I’ve also been trying to catch up from being on vacation for a week and, to add insult to injury, our systems completely blew up in my absence.  Aw, wasn’t it nice that they waited for me to return to start looking into the problem.

On Saturday,  I had a solid 5 mile run which I thought would propel me back into my regular running regimen.  I felt good, had no real issues with not having run in 6 days, and I simply enjoyed it.  Sunday was a completely different story.  I had nothing.  Never ran a step.  Had 8 miles on the docket, but knew before I got out of bed that it was not happening.  I made a half-hearted attempt by donning my running shorts, but quickly gave in.

While getting breakfast at our Colorado River campsite last week, one of our new friends Lou asked me, “Hey, did you and Scott run around the campsite this morning?”  He was joking of course, but then asked a real question, “Do you feel stressed when you can’t/don’t run?”  I answered quickly, “No, I really don’t.  And I planned for this week of not running.  It’s a balance.”  This week has put that reply to the test, as I’ve been in bed by 7:45 and have left work early to come home and take a nap.  Absolutely no energy or desire to run.  I’m still not stressed, but I always dread taking a longer than planned break from running because it just feels so much harder to restart.  Fortunately, as Scott reminded me today, the Boston Marathon was just 2 months ago – so I know I haven’t lost all my fitness since then.  A little longer unplanned break isn’t going to deplete my fitness level completely. 

Although this cold feels all encompassing right now, it will pass.  And when it does, I will dive back into my running routine with a renewed zest for the miles temporarily abandoned on my training log.  We always miss what we can't have, right?  Just thinking of going out for a nice long run is clearing my head.  Unless the DayQuil’s finally doing its job…