Rest

A couple of days ago, I did not want to run. My mind complained about being tired while my body moved through obligatory quadriceps and hamstring stretches. My mind acquiesced to the stretches for the piriformis and other lateral hip rotators. My mind still made a case for not running this morning while I laced up my shoes. My mind reminded my fingers to tie the laces tighter than yesterday, and then it went right back to the "no run day" dialog.

It is like I went though a systems over-ride. Some unexplainable force took control, an over-ride of my mental chatter, and I went for a run. My mind wondered what happened, where did I expect to run today, not the hills, no way...too tired for the hills. My body trudged up the hill, down the next, up another hill, down a steep grade. I turned around at the bottom of the hill and started back up the steep grade down and up again.

My mind said to stay straight, but my body turned to the right and up another hill on the side road. My mind pointed left at the first cross-road, but my body kept pacing forward. My mind said to turn on the next side road, and my body kept moving ahead. Finally, my body turned for home, and my mind rejoiced. My body then turned on to another side road, it planned to go for another mile. My mind, shocked at the decision, protested. My mind gained back the controls to the body systems, turned into a cul-de-sac and pronounced that we are headed for home.

Yesterday morning, I got up early to go for a run. By the time I was out the door, the weather had turned. It poured rain, and my spirits were dampened. It was a cold rain, the type of rain that brings the cold and flu. I shivered and closed the door, my body's desire to run frozen. My mind said the word, "Rest."

My body asked, "Stretches?"

My mind answered, "Rest."

My body asked, "Can we run tonight when we get home from work?"

My mind compromised, "Yes."

As the day progressed, my body kept up the anticipation of a nice little after work run. However, by the time I drove home, my body was tired. My mind wondered if the body had just caved in or if the body had caught the mind's fatigue, like a virus or bacterial infection. My mind wondered if it could actually pass on the infliction of fatigue.

My body asked the mind if we could skip the run tonight...my body wanted to go to bed. My mind went over to the calendar where I mark run days with a green highlighter and no run days with an orange highlighter. With a tinge of sadness, I marked the nineteenth of December with an orange dash.

I set my alarm for the next morning, in order to run before work. I rose early, drank some coffee and started writing instead, this blog to be exact. At this moment, I sit hear at my desk and over my head is the sky-light looking out to the eastern sky showing gray light. My ears register drops of rain and sleet hitting the slanted roof-top window.

My body says, "It sounds cold outside. Can we run when we get home from work?"

My mind looks at the calendar and remembers that since we started running fifty-nine days ago, we have no double orange days marked on the calender. Tomorrow stands as a two month marker for this change in lifestyle I acquired.

My mind looks at the clock, and I have run out of time. I need to leave for work.