Today, I decided to challenge myself and run outside instead of on the treadmill at AYC. Despite my feeling a bit off, though, because of a spider bite that happened on Tuesday or Wednesday. It was on my right hand, between my pinky and ring finger. It didn’t hurt much at first, but it started to make my hand feel weird later and I’ve been battling a general malaise for the past couple of days. When I finally discovered it on Thursday morning, I squeezed out a bit of puss, until it turned bloody and applied triple antibiotic ointment to the bite multiple times since. Even so, I still felt off and I have a feeling that it made running today harder than it should have been.

Because of those feelings of malaise, I wanted to go at an easy pace and decided to use a route that was flatter to avoid the steep hills around Colby. Plus, if I am honest with myself, I’m not quite ready to play on Mayflower Hill quite yet. I need a few more miles on the legs before I’m ready to tackle it. So, I ran from AYC through Burleigh St, Cool St, Silver St, and Pleasant St, a mostly flat route covering about 4.0 miles in total.

However, as I approached the end of my run, there is a small bump on West St that under most circumstances, I just pop right over, but today seemed to drain all my motivation. Of course, it didn’t help that I had already told myself before I started that I could walk up that bump if I was doing the 4.0-mile course. Guess what! That’s exactly what I did – walked up that little bump. It’s funny how our minds can set limits for us and make us stick to them, regardless of how we feel. Next time, I will go out with the intention of running the whole way without stopping.

I’m proud of myself for completing this 4-mile run outside, despite the obstacles. It was not easy with how I was feeling before and during the run. But finishing was rewarding. This 4.0 miler is the furthest I’ve run outside during this comeback. I did it despite not feeling great, which in turn gave me confidence to keep pushing myself a little more than I have been recently. Plus, the knee was not complaining about running, so that is progress also.

While it is usually a good idea to listen to your body and give it the rest needed for recovery and yet, at other times you do have to push through the malaise to accomplish things you want to do. There is a fine line between resting and pushing.

Today was a day to push through to the other side kind of run.