I’ve been struggling with a nagging hip flexor pain for the last couple of months and finally, I’ve decided to give it a rest. It’s scary for me to do that. Running is so much more to me than just keeping my weight under control, though certainly without running I’m worried about ballooning up, which I’ve a tendency to do.
But beyond that, not running scares me because the habit sets the tone for my days. Like the footfalls of my runs, it sets the rhythm for everything I do in a day, a week and a month.
When I lace up my shoes and hit the road in the morning, it starts things off right. It gives me a moment to myself, to collect my thoughts, or even just shake out the cobwebs and be a simple, moving human being for a moment. Then, my day spreads out in front of me and I can break it up into chunks, just like the mileage. There’s breakfast to be made, there’s school to be gotten ready for and there’s writing and chores and work to be done. But take away the run, then other things start to slide and as they slide, my mind goes with it. At least in the past it has. And that leads to overwhelming sluggishness of the mind and body. Simply put, I become lazy and sad.
But this time, there’s nothing to be done for it. I can’t keep running through the pain. I need to rest it and so far, so good. I’m actually down a pound from a week ago as I concentrate on diet. I’ve been keeping up on chores and especially the writing. I even knocked out a short story for a Halloween project for the Library. Hopefully, I’ll have some more to report on that later.
And like that short story I banged out, I expect my rest from the injury will be fairly short — about a week and a half. I just need to be disciplined about it. Next week, I plan on hitting the road again but will keep it short and flat for the time being. That’s harder said than done around here. I got hills everywhere I look in my neighborhood. But I will make it work. Otherwise, I’ll have to go shopping for all new clothes and not for a good reason.
Chalk Creek Writing Outfit 