On a Break

Fall is officially here! It was 39 degrees at 7:45 am this morning. The air was crisp, there was frost on the ground, and the maples leaves are beginning to turn. I put on tights for the first time. Luckily I still have an old, stretched out pair that fit, even with my 37 week belly :-)

I headed across the street for a walk. As I walked along, I thought about running. I've been running since high school. I can't think of too many times where I haven't been running. Yes, there have been breaks here and there, but I've never been seriously injured, and unlike Snowman and running, who had a bit of a falling out after college, I never stopped running once I started. I was thinking of all the places I've run. Of all the friends I've run with. How I have relied on running to keep me sane. To keep me healthy. To empty my mind. I've run through the winding streets of Nantes, France in the early morning hours. The Commons a million times over. Flow miles at Wolfe's Neck with the cross country team. On the trails. In the mountains. On the roads. On the snow. Through the mud. In the heat. Alone, with Snowman, with the Trail Monsters. In the 100m hurdles. The 10k. Road races with a zillion people. Along the edge of Somes Sound in the MDI Marathon. The rolling pastures of Pineland, and the rocky single track of Bradbury. Sure, I haven't always been fast. Or run far. I've had good days and bad, but I'm always glad to be out there. The longest stretch of no running was in 2005 when we were hiking the AT for four months. I think I was back to running within 3 days after we stopped, as this body of mine just needs to and wants to move!

So, it is with great regret that I admit that running and I are now on a short break. The mind wants to run. But the body does not. My joints/ligaments are loosening. My groin has been hurting after my runs. As has my right shin, likely due to the new gait I've taken on in the past month or so as my belly expands. And the belly, well, it is just feeling heavy and stretched to the limit. These things are putting a bit of a damper on the whole running thing. I had hoped to be able to run right through to the end. But I did manage to run through 36 weeks of pregnancy, and of that I am happy and proud. Anyway, walking has now replaced running. It is not the same, but it gets me out moving and is much gentler on the body at this point.

If I do end up having the c-section that is now scheduled for 9:30am on October 9th, I know I will have a mandatory 6 week hiatus from running as I heal. And even if I do not have the c-section, I will have to take some time off to recover. So, you likely won't be reading any running-related blogs in the next 8 weeks. But you can bet I'll be counting down the days (November 21st if it's a c-section) until I can run again! :-)