Colds are kind of like a running injury: it's hard to feel what it would be like to get back to normal, hard to imagine a time when everything is right. When my knee is acting up, in particular, it has nagging and insidious way of souring my thoughts and my attitude. This is quite distinct from the good pain of being tired, reaching the point of fatigue, or the aches and pains of a long run, in which I can visualize the time of ending, the time of feeling better, running through it and perhaps even turning it to my advantage. The key to conquering or working with this kind of pain is continuing, whether by embracing or detaching. The sneaky nature of the nagging pains is the idea that one won't be able to continue, that it will conquer. I guess that's where illness falls in for me. Even the most mild cold clouds things and alters thinking. Why is this, when I've been ill and recovered many times in life, and when I've had several chronic running injuries that have healed -- why can't I use mental discipline and training to move past these, to push through these in the same way as with exhaustion or the good pain? Hmmm.
Today: Yoga.
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hmm, good question, but hey, at least you can say you're living in the moment while succumbing to the nastiness of a cold. And, don't worry. We'll get over this soon!
ReplyDeleteJess is correct, though sometimes, every-so-often, it pays to reconnoiter. Sometimes hurting yourself (albeit a late comment in this thread)works as a nice litmus for what you may need - by that I mean a very unhealthy and probably wrong masochistic urge. Sound right!? I think all runners do this ... I think somewhere along the line we all know it has less to do with health and more to do with an odd ego/performace thing. It doesn't make it any less compelling, but I do wonder if 'for not for the pain would i return?' ... is misery half the point?
ReplyDeletecheers
joe