Runner's low

Ever since the St. Patrick's Race in March, I've lost my interest in running.

I trained hard and accomplished what I set out to do: run the race not for time but for finishing it and feeling well. Afterwards I couldn't get the desire back.

I vowed to run about three miles a couple of times a week, combined with walking and tennis, just to maintain my bottom line for when I want to run again. I wonder if people who run long races feel like this afterwards and what they do about it.

Non-runners might say, "If you don't want to do it, then stop," but most of us wouldn't do that. I want to get back in "the groove" where I get that runner's high. I am, after all, a runner who writes, or a writer who runs.

I have written before about some generalized aches and pains that might signal arthritis. This doesn't make it easier. It's been very hot here, and the other afternoon I decided it was time to go. When I got back, I bent over to pull something out of the garden and could barely get up. OK, no more of that.

I should really do it first thing in the morning like I always used to do in the old days. Then you're done. But I'm so stiff in the morning that it's harder to get up and out.

Today I paid attention to the weather. I walked Maddie with Deb and her dog Sue Ellen. Although I thought I might run aftewards, I was so tired and hot just from the mile walk that I put the run out of my mind. I went up to my room, did some yoga, and fell asleep on the floor.