I’ll Be Okay

I was planning to run this morning as I do every Sunday to mark run #1 of my weekly four. I sometimes run with a group in Aurora and I really enjoy doing that, even with leaving the house at 6:15 to drive out there but sometimes, I run in my neighborhood and have an array of routes to choose from. We had a lot going on at the house over the weekend and I just knew I wasn’t going to get much sleep last night (I didn’t) so I figured I would run outside whenever I got up. I had a nice 4-5 mile route picked out and I had my running clothes set aside and all was fine until I got out of bed and stood up.

I had somehow managed to get a cut on the sole of my foot the other night and it hurt enough yesterday when I did a short walk but I still planned on running this morning. When I started walking around my room to get ready, it really hurt and I knew it wasn’t a good idea to run on it. I quickly signed up for a slot at the gym so I could do some non-weight bearing cardio. I did three miles on the elliptical, doing an intense trail run that had intervals of inclines and then 15 minutes on the bicycle. I felt good about my workouts but there was still that part of me that felt bad that I didn’t run today. I had a few moments when I was on the elliptical where I considered going on the treadmill for an easy run or even a jog to get two miles but as I walked towards the treadmill area and felt the sting in my foot, I knew it wasn’t a good idea. I felt fine doing the bicycle and told myself that this week will not look like my typical week with a four day run (I’m aiming for two days now since we are going out of town on Thursday).

One thing I’ve learned over the last few months of not having a regular routine is I have to truly go with the flow. I may want to run 15-20 miles a week or even try for more but something — an injury, perhaps — can come up and I may not get to that number but I will be okay. I may not run four days each week because there might be a week like this coming week where I can only manage two or three and I will be just fine. And as much as I feel that urge — the competitive urge — to not do that Plan B and to try to stick to Plan A no matter how much I know that B makes more sense — I have to remember that this journey of mine is not a race and I am more than okay with that.