Suspended animation

I bet you've all been wondering if I've fallen off the face of the Earth. No? You didn't even notice I was gone? Ehm. Ok.

I've been busy with the move and meeting friends to say goodbye, something that left me emotionally exhausted. The past three days I met up with 4 different groups of people, each dear to me for different reasons. It's been a lot of fun but very intense. So last night I went to sleep just before 11 and got up reluctantly just after 8. Time is moving at super slow speed. Now that all these goodbyes are said and only the tiresome stuff of the move remain, I wish I could fast forward this bit so that we skip over the part of packing and driving for over 16 hours across the country with two hyperventilating cats who lose control of their bowels at the mere sight of a car. But I'll have to wait another 1,5 weeks before it feels like we have a home again.

I thought a run would take care of this restlessness but I didn't really feel like it. Those who know me also know that this is a very rare occurrence, and it speaks volumes about my state of mind. I attributed my laziness to last Saturday's run, when a couple of friends, J and I ran the Torrekulla trail. My knee put up with a staggering 14 km of technical single track consisting of roots, stones, hills, and deep pools of mud that -at least on one surprising occassion- almost came up to my thighs. The walking breaks were far and in between, and -completely unintentionally, your Honour, I swear- happened to coincide with the worst slopes. I think I ran 25 minutes without a break at some point. My knee survived.

Sore muscles screamed obscenities to me as I finally convinced myself to step out the door earlier today. The plan was to run in the woods, but after a few kilometres of stones bludgeoning my left foot sole, tender from all the stones I managed to hit last Saturday, I was ready to find a nice patch of smooth, solid tarmac to run on. I took the easy way back and picked up some speed instead. At least for a while, anyway; my legs were tired and just wanted to lie down for a bit cradling a cold margarita.

What came out of this run was that I upped the ante. The running intervals went from being 5 minutes long to being 10 minutes long. My knee didn't seem to mind. Now I am very, VERY tempted to try a real long run. And I'm not as restless anymore.