I was eager for a lumber at Deerfield on Thursday morning and was in bed Wednesday night just as the sun set.
Sadly, I was wide awake about 4 hours later and would remain so for hours before briefly falling asleep and dreaming about legs covered in mosquito bites that I squeezed like pimples and orange centipede-like worms came out. Needless to say, I passed on breakfast. And I almost thought about passing on the hike.
I did not.
It was nice to return to the Hall’s Lake Natural Area for a hike in the woods on Tuesday, and it did wonders to improve my mood as well as help get my creative juices flowing despite not seeing much to photograph.
I was also eager to get back to running1 on Wednesday and mapped out a new 5-mile on-the-nose course using Mapmyride.com. Apparently, they don’t discriminate against you if don’t plan on riding a bike.
I felt good physically after Monday morning’s lumber/run (runber?), and in a perfect world, I would do the same thing again Tuesday, especially since the mood I was in at 6:00 AM called for intense flogging and punishment for unknown reasons, although I have a feeling that it has something to do with still being alive. But it also could have been gas.
I had a loose plan to do my version of running on Thursday and found myself at the trailhead parking lot and ready to go at 7:45.
After three lumberless days, I was back in the woods early Wednesday morning for a slow but much-needed 5-mile hike. It felt swell. Not great, but swell.
Wednesday’s “runber” was a mild success for me (I don’t run), but it came with a painful cost, and that meant skipping a lumber/run altogether on Thursday to concentrate on mowing the lawn and a variety of other tasks about the Cul De Sac Shack that required functioning feet.
Tuesday night was a horrible night’s sleep, and I found myself wide awake at 2 AM and unable to get in the temperature zone: too hot, then too cold, then needing to pee, then falling asleep, then repeating the process until 6 AM when I could finally end the cycle and get out of bed.
Monday’s early morning 5-mile run in the hot and humid woods really zapped my energy, so I knew that on Tuesday, I would need to dial shit back a little bit and lumber.
It was nice to give my legs a day off from lumbering and attempts at running on Sunday, although, without proper club football to fill my afternoon hours, I did such activities as spend time with Wifey (I told you my potagerian efforts would pay off!), trim some landscaping, listen to music, and stare blankly at the irrigation system as it watered the front lawn whilst I sipped from my chalice, King of Thule style.
I was relieved to wake up on Friday with my knee continuing to feel good. It’s been a month-long journey of Googling, avoiding real doctors, and pain that appeared to finally improve by actually pushing myself harder and running.
I say “appeared” because while I 100% said “fuck it” and started running because it felt way better than hiking, I know that 1. that wasn’t the right thing to do, and 2. that’s PROBABLY not what improved it.
