Bouncing Back

Fall 2013

I'd be lying if I said the past few months have been stellar. And I'll probably be lying if I speculate that the next few months will be stellar.

Battling an injury since May - some sort of low-grade, chronic, achy pain - has not been fun. It's left me feeling miserable, grumpy, and overall meh. And paired with a busy schedule and an impending thesis deadline, everything kind of compounds.

Tonight I went out for a run. I think I ran 2.5 miles total - the most I've covered in one shot since July. The run started off well enough, but by a mile or so in, Vera and I were at odds and I could feel the grumpy growing. Vera was pulling, not listening, and acting bratty, and I was feeling frustrated. Finally, in the open field out front of the stadium, I had her sit nicely, unclipped her leash, and watched her take off in full-blown whippet-style sprint.

Summer 2014 - North Diamond Peak

Her ears flattened, her back legs tucked up under her chin, and she grinned, she literally grinned, as she flew through the waning light.

I sat down on the pavement on the edge of the freshly watered grass, and gazed up at the stars peeking out in the sky. Vera runs for the pure joy of feeling the wind on her face and that feeling of strength and ability. She doesn't think about how hard it is, or how tired she is. She just loves to run - a sentiment I've lost in the past few years.

It's so easy to get bogged down by the stresses and negatives to every day life, and to let them overshadow the pure joy that can arise from simple moments in life.

I might still not be able to run much, but it is time to find a way to recapture that feeling.