Youth

Last week, after a few much-needed days off, I slowly eased into running again.  Surprisingly, my legs bounced back relatively well this time, which I'm guessing is due to the fact that they are becoming more and more accustomed to the pain I put them through with each marathon.  (good or not good....hmmm).  I was fortunate to have a couple beautiful days where I was running with no watch and no agenda;  simply soaking in the scenery and zoning out to my music.  So nice.  Despite a frustrating performance in Hartford, I was quickly reminded why I love running and continue to do it - race or no race.  My plan at this point was to maintain my base mileage and then, in a few weeks, to shift my focus over to the shorter races that I have coming up this winter.  And then I got sick.  Not a big deal.  Just a little cold with a sore throat and some sinus pressure.  Totally manageable.  After I dropped my kids off at school on Monday morning, I headed out for a run.  I ran .37 (yes, that's point three seven) miles, turned around, walked home and crawled back into my bed.  My body pretty much called a time out.  Okay, fair enough.  I rested for a few hours and then got up and got ready for work.  Whether I run with my cross country team or not, I always wear running clothes to practice.  It's comfortable, it puts us all on the same wavelength, and more often than not I jump in with the girls at some point to motivate them or help them get through their workout.  But running with them was not in the cards for Monday.  Earlier that day, I had let my own coach know that I couldn't muster up the energy to get a run in and that I felt like I could use a couple days off, which he completely agreed with.  As I headed over to the field, my motivation was low and I was struggling to put on my game face.  The girls warmed up; catching up with each other, many of them laughing and bubbling with their ever-present youthful enthusiasm.  Their energy was tangible and it was quickly rubbing off on me.  As they got ready to head out, one of them said, "Coach, you coming?" "Not today", I responded, "I'm trying to knock off this cold."  They turned to go.  -->Insert 6 second pause here<--  Wait, I said, I'll just do a little with you."  They smiled, came back, scooped me up and off we went.  My legs were tired and I couldn't breath through my nose but neither of these things seemed to matter at the time.  My mood shifted, I got a pleasant little surge of energy and for about 30 minutes I forgot about my cold.  Those who are constantly hunting down the fountain of youth...I get it.  Do I want be young and free forever?  Not really.  But, a short burst of that youthful feeling every once in a while?  I'll take it.  Sometimes all we need is a little sip.

Listen to this:
Counting Stars - One Republic* 

* Thanks for sharing, ALS