Permission Granted, Goal Reached

Sunday’s Run (8/15/10)

I don’t know if it was physical or emotional exhaustion, but this run was hard.  On Sunday morning, I headed to the gym which was, thankfully, empty.  I hopped on my usual treadmill, turned on my usual Food Network, and began my 30-minute run with a 5-minute walking warm-up.  The work week had ended on a very down note for me, and I tossed and turned all night with worry about the present and the future.  I can become downright obsessive with my worrying, and it is exhausting.  So before I started my work-out, I gave myself permission to take it easy, to take breaks if necessary, to even do a shorter work-out if 30 minutes felt like too much.

But I did it: I made it through a full 30 minutes of treadmill running with no breaks.  The pace was a 9:31 mile—not particularly speedy, but not too shabby either for my long run.  It was mildly therapeutic, the repetition of putting one foot in front of the other.  That’s how life is, right?  Bad things happen, but we just have to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

I did have an excellent distraction to keep me entertained during my run.  For the first time ever, I watched one of Rachael Ray’s 30-minute meal shows.  I have to say, I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would.  She was cooking an Indian-themed meal—I love Indian food!  On this show, she made an amazing-sounding lentil salad with potatoes and this green salad dressing of fresh spinach, cilantro, and mint.  Wow, it sounded so, so good!  And because it’s Rachael Ray and Food Network, the recipe was waiting for me at home, right here in fact.  Consider this a bookmark for a future dinner, one that I think will be earthy and spicy and refreshing.  It’s going to take a lot of lentils to get me through the next few weeks.  Wish me luck.