Run with it

A friend of mine started a blog recently. In fact, it was her blog that inspired me to start my own. Her blogger id (or whatever you call it) is Run With It. I love it! Way cooler than mine, which is, I believe, Jami Stromberg. I love to run. It is the purest form of exercise. You don't need any equipment or teammates. With the barefoot craze of late, you don't even need shoes. When I am running, I am not accountable to anyone. I can let my thoughts go wherever they want to. It's way better to do that during the endorphin high of a run than in the middle of an insomnia-filled night. Lately, you can guess where my thoughts have been headed. I usually end a run with some mental clarity about a problem or concern I've been having. A friend of mine considers herself an introvert, and is a very spiritual person. She gets her strength through quiet meditation. Her husband is the opposite. He gets his strength by playing team sports or going on some kind of athletic adventure. I think I am more of an extrovert (hence the blog), but the beauty of running is that it allows for reflection and spirituality even while being physically active. In fact, the active part of it makes it even better spiritually.

I sort of committed myself to running the Twin Cities Marathon this fall, as part of a church project. I am happy to say that my long run so far this season is 7 miles! However, my Mondays, when I usually do my long run, have been taken lately with doctor appointments. On the other hand, my Facebook weight loss group challenge this week is to log as ma y miles as possible, be it by walking, running, biking, swimming, you get the picture. Not wanting to let my team down, I've been running every day this week, so my weekly mileage is actually higher than it's been in the recent past. I have a gym bag that I leave at work that contains a set of running gear. I can bop out for a quick 2 mile run over lunch, change my underwear and back into work clothes, slap on some deodorant, run my hands through my hair, and I'm all set for afternoon appointments. Nobody's yet complained about my appearance or odor!

I need the therapeutic effect of running right now because I do have some not-very-happy
moments. Last night I had a panic attack when I found the "Breast Book" at Barnes and Noble. I had another one on my way to Target tonight, when I passed Maple Grove Hospital, which is where I got my first mammogram 6 weeks ago. The pamphlets I got yesterday at the doctor's office describe how your emotions can change on a day-to-day basis, and they were right! I fear that they won't get it all with the first surgery, so they'll want to take off my breast. Or the cancer will come back and they'll want to take off my breast. Or they'll take off my breast and that won't cure it and then I'll need chemotherapy and then and then... I know, all of this is very unlikely, but me having DCIS was unlikely as well, wasn't it? I read somewhere that only 1 in 1300 hundred screening mammograms end up with a diagnosis of DCIS. Incredible!

I'm mostly doing fine. Hell, I'm going to Hawaii tomorrow! But IT is always hanging over my head, ready to pounce when I least expect it. So what do I do? I run. Literally.