Triumphs

It looks like Poker is going to be just fine. Dr. J put him on a round of antibiotics to ward off infection, and the techs bandaged his little paw to keep him from licking it. He also got some pain meds that put him in loopy land for the night. His poor little paw was probably throbbing.

Now I have three critters on five different medicines three times a day for the next two weeks. That's a total of ten doses a day. It's exhausting, and today I have a headache.

The only escape I seem to get from everything is when I go for my run. I'm now in the middle of my eighth week, and I continue to push myself every day. Even on days when I'm tired and defeated, I still get out there and do my best. Last week, I hit a milestone. In order to understand that milestone, you have to understand my run.

I run a little over two miles five days a week. Exactly half of my run is uphill all the way.

I snapped this picture yesterday on the way home from the vet office. If you follow the road all the way up, you'll see a spot way off in the distance where the road makes a fairly dramatic uphill grade right into those gorgeous hills. See it? That's the hill I run up every evening, and it took me a full seven weeks to be able to run that hill all the way without stopping. I'm darn proud of that fact. Running down the hill, of course, is considerably easier, and I've been doing that consistently for many weeks. Now I can say that I run the entire route without stopping, and I could go further if I wanted to, but since I have a whole other workout to do at home, I just stop at the end of the two miles.

Last night's run was simply amazing. The desert received a full day of non-stop rain, and the air was crisp and clean. The breeze was cool and refreshing. As I ran, I thought about all the things I love about running.

1. Solitude - A rare commodity in my life at this point, running gives me the complete solitude I need to clear my head and think.
2. Clarity - There's nothing like being able to assess the day's events in a clear manner.
3. Inspiration - The desert is an endless source of ideas that can be translated into my creative endeavors.
4. Wildlife - I have had the most interesting encounters on my runs. A few weeks back, a Mexican Free Tail bat swooped down and hit the bill of my hat. It was awesome! Last night, a Sharp-shinned hawk flew just feet in front of me and landed on the fence right next to me. We looked at each other for a few minutes before we both took off. She greeted me again as I headed down the hill. I also see cotton tails, ground squirrels and chipmunks. Maybe soon I'll see a snake!
5. Endurance - Running gives me the power of endurance and energy. I'm always pumped when I come back from a run.
6. Strength - Not only am I becoming physically stronger, but my mental strength increases exponentially with every run.
7. Schedule - I used to stay up until 3:30 am and not get up until 11 am. I wasn't happy with that sleep pattern. Since I started my runs, I go to bed between 10:30 and 11:30, and I'm up by 8:30/9:00.
8. Diet - Running makes me want to eat healthy foods and be a better steward of my body. I may not be the 98 lbs, size 0 I was five years ago (which was way too skinny for my frame anyway), but I can say with certainty that I'm definitely a lot healthier than I was back then even if I'm no where close to that weight.

My runs aren't always a bed of roses, don't get me wrong. They're hard, exhausting and draining. There are days when it feels like I have never run at all, but those days are few and far between. I'm also still dealing with stitches on my left side right under my rib cage. In case you don't know, a stitch is a spasm of the muscles in the diaphragm. They can range from mild to severe, and last week, I got a whopper of stitch that caused me to stop dead in my tracks. This week, however, I haven't experienced one, so I'm hoping that my chest muscles are becoming stronger. I've noticed that as my breathing becomes more regular as I run, the stitches become less frequent. I'm hoping that's the case!

Alrighty, I've babbled on long enough about my runs! I have lots to do today in terms of that crafty endeavor I eluded to in my last post. I hope you all have a wonderful day, and I'll catch you later!