walking pneumonia and a broken bone in my foot sidelined me from running from december 16 to march 16. it felt like a million years. i’ve taken longer breaks than that due to nothing but sheer laziness, but this was miserable. i was dying to be out there. next time i feel like being lazy, i hope i am able to remember how bad it feels when it is taken away.
running/jogging has been an off and on part of my life since 2004, and only recently, have i figured out why i need it so much: it’s tied to a positive perception of myself… which i very much need. it’s also my main form of accountability to my health, keeping me on track with fitness and eating well.
i took this picture yesterday in the plaza where i was running some laps. just a couple blocks from my apartment, it’s one of my favorite places to run through, and i include it on my route a couple times a week. it’s a reminder to me of all the changes i’ve made. home is so different from what it used to be. running through the plaza keeps me connected to that idea, the idea of what i’ve made out of the hand i was dealt.
and running keeps me connected to my body. i was dealt some great genes and some pretty crappy ones. i will always be fighting weight. running helps with that, of course. but what it helps most with is body image… it gives me a constructive way to focus on my shape — as something i can work with instead of something to complain about.
running (movement) has also been known to wake me up creatively and help the poetry find its way back out from wherever it’s buried itself. i sure hope it surfaces soon. i’m enjoying writing posts about what i care about and what’s going on with me, but man, oh man, i miss the poems.
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