Guess which event Leah is most excited about this weekend?
a. Homecoming football game versus Oregon
b. Parents and little sis coming to visit for the game
c. Six-week anniversary of my broken toe
No offense family, but my toe is officially cleared for take-off as of this weekend, and I have never been so excited. I am not going to hop right back on the triathlon bandwagon again - and not only because I realized how cold the Bay water will be by November when the race was scheduled. I am going to take it easy, because ideally I learned some lessons in moderation while I was out sick. Lessons like, sometimes it is ok to take a day off exercising - especially when you are taking a graduate seminar and working a full time job. And, I also learned that when you are in really great shape, you can pretty much sit on your ass for a good month before you see obvious physical signs. These last two weeks have tested the strength of my mental health. I simply tried to embrace my newly pudgy arms and fuller cheeks (you can guess which ones I am talking about) but it was tough, especially when my crazy co-worker caught me eating the communal chocolate and asked if I was gaining weight in my sedentary life. Arrgh! I am used to being the young co-worker whose bad snack habits annoy everyone because I don't gain weight - I don't like being the co-worker who gets chided for eating chocolates! But it was out of my control: I couldn't exercise and I can't stop eating candy - so maybe I have learned to accept my limitations...ha!
Tonight was really shaping up to be a downer. I have been getting really tired around the late afternoon lately. I feel queasy, tired, dehydrated... More or less, I have taken on too much trying to research for this seminar and work full time. My mind is elsewhere at work, my social life is non-existent (except at football games when I let out a little too much pent up energy) and recently the stress has started to actually make me sick. Tonight after work I again felt horrible. I took a few hours off in the afternoon to dig through the archives at the Bancroft for my research - and usually that makes me feel a lot better. But even though I was completely engrossed in my research, I still wanted to puke. And let me tell you, the Bancroft staff would not have enjoyed that since you are only allowed to enter with a notebook and pencil. After eating and re-hydrating myself I sat moping in my room until I finally got sick of my bad mood and decided to try going for a run. This past weekend I cut up an old sneaker so that I can use it without putting any pressure on my toe, and since my toe has been feeling really good lately I decided to give it a shot. Obviously, I needed to relieve some stress.
I will start with the disclaimer that I did not make it very far - but it was an unbelievable rush. If my toe was in any pain, I was oblivious to it. I have missed this adrenaline. If running gave me such a rush, then I can't wait to get back on my bike. So I ran a little less than a mile, but my whole mindset has changed - and this evening is all of a sudden shaping up nicely. I think I will listen to Justin Timberlake's "My Love" a few more times and then call it a night study-wise. Then off to watch Grey's and I can go to sleep content...and slightly less stressed out.
