Day in and Day out

I recall dancing with my eliptical as Michael Buble sang, "Save the Last dance for me". I can still remember how wonderful it felt to hold on to those arms and dance away whatever chocolate I had allowed to find it's way into my tummy. It's such an awesome feeling to watch the calories melt away as you listen to your favorite artist in your ears. As a matter of fact it is one of my most treasured past times aside from actually having the opportunity to pitter-patter my feet down a "real" trail with the sun shining on my back; now that my friends is absolutely divine and tastes just as good if not better than the chocolate that usually makes me take my bum there to begin with!

Some things that we do day in and day out, we just assume that we will continue to do, "day in and day out." It's human nature, we did it today and we will be okay to do it tomorrow and in the weeks that follow. I know, because I have been running for over twenty years wherever I may find myself rather it be in Germany, Georgia,  Missouri, South Carolina, Texas, or even now as I make my way down my familiar North Carolina roads. I just know that it's what I will always do, or do I?

The months that have passed since settling in to my new North Carolina home have been challenging to say the least. I have left those familiar NC trails with unfamiliar pains and ended up in a very unfamiliar "cast". Humbling to say the least as I drive by effortless runners only to be sentenced to upper body workouts. It turns out my  day in and day out has turned out to be much different than I anticipated when I arrived. As I sit here today, I am grateful to say that my legs are both free of any kind of running restraint but my foot is still not quite ready to pitter patter it's way down the Airborne trails that surround me here. So, I patiently wait for it to heal enough for me to give it another try. I envy the runners that surround me as I make my way into the gym and see their sunscreened noses and effortless feet making their way down the sidewalk. I make my way to the familiar dumbbells and throw them above my shoulders and smile at the shoulders that they've created but still have a hollow longing in my non-running soul. I look at the eliptical that I once danced with to the sounds of beautiful music in my ears and I decide to give it a try...

I slide my healing right foot in the pocket and lock it in place for the ride. I grab the familiar arms that I danced with so many months before and promise my foot not to lift it from the pocket in which I placed it; it seems like a fair enough compromise to possibly experience the glory of sweat. Ten minutes pass and I feel my shoulders relax. My legs glide back and forth as my foot remains on the platform keeping its half of the deal.
 I turn the speed up a bit as I close my eyes and reach 30 minutes covered in the familiar glory of sweat. I am more grateful for the wet t-shirt that covers me more than any other day that I have ever been in the gym. I smile as my feet agree to give 45 minutes a try. I finish the 45 and pull my sweaty hair out of my face before I walk out the door. I smile as I think of my first victory; small but nonetheless, the first. I make my way out the door and stretch and rotate and massage my healing foot and almost hug it for staying with me without pain. Today I am grateful for the feet that I never thanked, the soul that I finally fed after months of starving and even for the runners that are still pitter-pattering on the sidewalks beside me. There are no guarantees that tomorrow will be exactly like today my friends. Make today a day that you are grateful for all that your body can do. Embrace the abilities that you now have and say thank you for the obstacles that you overcome. We only get one body to carry our weary souls through this beautiful life, take care of it my friends and it will take care of you..