Life In A Nutshell

“I remember you wrote about that when you had your blog.”

Eek. Had???

Those words were said to me last week and I’ll admit they stung for a millisecond. It wasn’t news to me that I let the dust settle on this blog and it’s no accident I’m posting this 2 months to the day from my last update. Sometimes taking a break from something you invest time and energy on, is exactly what your life calls for at the moment.

I’ve stepped away from this blog a few times in the 7 years I’ve been running it, and usually have come back with a whole new redesign. This time was no different.

While I’ve enjoyed updating it in the past, I quickly realized I wasn’t feeling up to the task of overhauling this space. There have been some changes and dealings in my life in the past couple of months, and feeling like I should change this blog too, was creating more anxiety than what I needed.

All I did was tweak it here and there. Nothing like a little spring cleaning (in the summer) to freshen up the place.

Speaking of summer, where did August go? In a nutshell, this is how it went for me…

I volunteered.

I ran.

I got sick.

I had a birthday.

That was my August. The End.

I volunteered at Angeles Crest 100 for my 4th year in a row.

I ran and hiked my way through some miles that I wish were more, but I didn’t because, well…

I woke up on the morning of Saturday, August 18th feeling tired. Nothing out of the ordinary. I figured once I got out to the trail and got moving, my energy would perk up.

I had no energy to even break into a run. For 2+ hours I only hiked, feeling as if I could collapse at any moment.

Why did I push myself? Why didn’t I just call it, and turn around early, or better yet, simply stay home? I wish I had.

Unbeknownst to me I was getting sick with the severe stomach flu – something I haven’t had in 20 years. Sure I’ve had upset stomach here and there, but this wasn’t that.

I’ll spare you all the glamorous and fabulous details, but dayum, this thing took me down and it was 2 weeks before I could even run more than 5 minutes.

10 days after that agonizing hike I celebrated my birthday, and finished out the month still recovering from the flu.

Goodbye August. Can’t say I’ll miss ya all that much.

That brings us to September.

Last week, I joined up with a group of fine folks for one of Keira Henninger’s Griffith Park training runs. It would be my first time on a trail in two and a half weeks, and I took it real easy for 5 miles. It was fantastic!

It was fantastic until the point where at the end of the run, I was running on this choppy uneven concrete path that I forgot was choppy and uneven because it was dark and well…I rolled my left ankle. I even had my headlamp on! Guess it’s been a while since I’ve done any night running and turns out, I’m a bit rusty.

Right off the bat I knew my ankle wasn’t serious (I’ve rolled it enough times to know the difference), but it was tender. I figured a day or two of rest and I’d be good to go, and I was right.

Friday night, I got my gear ready to spend Saturday morning with some quality time out on the trail. I was all revved up! And so was my nose.

Saturday morning I woke up with a head cold, or some pretty wicked allergies. I couldn’t breathe. My nose was going to be the only thing running on that day.

Last month, I turned another year older, and with that, (hopefully) a bit more wiser. If I learned anything from that dreadful hike in August, it was to listen HARDER to my body when it’s speaking. I wasn’t going to push it this time. So I called off my training run, rested, and did laundry instead.

As of Monday evening, I felt pretty good. What I had this past weekend was either the worst allergies I’ve ever had, or a 48-hour head cold, with a few lingering sneezes here and there, but that’s it. However, I’m remaining slightly cautious…for one more day.

So, what’s next, you might ask?

First, stay healthy from here on out.

Second, return to Arizona at the end of October for the Javelina Jundred 100K to finish it officially, since the last time I was there all I got was a blister and no hardware to show for it. I’m hoping for better results this time around.

Third, get back to writing more before the dust settles again.

And that dear ones, is where I am, in a nutshell.

Thanks for reading!