A life of not running...

It's been over a week since my last run.

Granted...that last run was rather long. And I did kick some arse. But that was a week ago.

I promised my foot doctor that I'd take a week off from running after the race. So I did.

This is what I've learned from a week of not running.

1) Not running sucks!

It's one thing to skip a workout b/c I've been on the road for 8 hrs or working for 14 hrs or just feel run down and crappy. It's another thing to not run b/c you've been TOLD not to. I don't like to be TOLD to do or not do anything. Plus 'not running' makes me feel guilty and lazy. The first couple of days after the 1/2 marathon, I was o.k. with not running. I mean....geez....I just ran 13.1 miles at my-fastest-long-distance-pace-ever! So a few days of no-running were acceptable. But by Wednesday, I started feeling it. Lost. Hopeless. Depressed. Weird. Penned up. That feeling just festered.

Dr. Gipson made me promise to take a week off. I needed to let my foot heal a bit and then start seriously rehabing...find an alternative for awhile and some cross-training. I'm sure he'd be perfectly fine with me never running again...I, however, will not be.

2) Not running does NOT make my foot feel better.

So, this week of no-running was to let my foot heal? Isn't that what the oh-so-smart guy with the M.D. behind his name told me???  

THEN WHY THE HELL DOES MY FOOT HURT WORSE AFTER A WEEK OF NOT RUNNING THAN IT DID THE DAY AFTER I RAN 13.1 MILES AT MY-FASTEST-LONG-DISTANCE-PACE-EVER!!???

Okay, sorry for the loud-blog-voice. I just had to get that out. Shew...I feel a little better.

Seriously though!? I've had more foot pain, swelling, random muscle cramping, etc. since I stopped running. What's up with that crap?? When does the healing begin? Did I miss that bus?

3) Pumpkin cheesecake is either heaven in a box....or the devil in a box. I've not decided yet.


I spent most of last fall trying to perfect a pumpkin cheesecake recipe. Sadly, it never came.They were too cake-y, too dense, not enough pumpkin, not creamy enough, not light enough, etc.

However, I had the pleasure of dining at a hole-in-the-wall diner in Rural Retreat, VA last fall. And behold, they had pumpkin cheesecake for dessert....as if I could pass that up. After my mouth had a miniature orgasm and I slid off the booth into the floor in a daze, I mustard up enough strength to beg the waitress for the recipe. I told her my plight of trying to find a pumpkin cheesecake recipe that would give me that reaction! She leaned in like she was going to tell me her great-granny's secret recipe that shouldn't be shared outside of family under threat of disown-ment and dismemberment and ever so softly whispered...."Sam's Club."

If you are a cheesecake lover. If you are a lover of everything pumpkin. Then stop reading this blog, throw your computer down, grab your keys and get in your car.....don't stop to put on make-up or fix your hair, and go ahead and pee in your pants if you just can't hold it, and this is a one-time pass in which you are allowed to wear your pajamas in public....drive like a bat-outta-hell  to Sam's Club. If you are not a member, kidnap the person walking in the door in front of you (or just walk really close behind them and smile/nod at the greeter as you walk in Sam's with your new mom/grandma/dad/grandpa/aunt/cousin/uncle/brother/whatever). Knock people out of the way. Run over them if you have too! Apparently, they only sell these just before Thanksgiving (they did NOT have them last year AFTER Thanksgiving).

I only got two, because I have no self control and could not be held responsible for the 30 lbs I would gain on my backside.  

(Plus it was really my Mom that purchased them for me when she saw them on Friday and called me. (I've got the BEST mom in the world!!) I only ordered 2 because 10 sounded.... a little much?)

Mark & I devoured one in less than 3 days. The other is in the freezer. And I'm in Virginia. Dreaming about cheesecake.

So, this is what I have to look forward to without running.....feeling depressed & lost, with an incredibly painful foot, a large ass to match that pain and cheesecake stuck in my hair.

I miss running.

Gotta run....I wished.