Slowing Down

Admit it. Most runners like us are masochists. We feel like winners when our calves are burning, our feet are sore, and we are too exhausted to run any further yet we still plod on for the sheer passion for running. Conversely, slowing down may feel like we’re giving in—or worse giving up.

For those who want to run for life, one must actually learn to slow down at times. In the runner’s world, that could mean: to decrease your pace, to lessen your number of runs, to shorten the length of time, or to allow your body to rest and recover for a certain period of time in order to avoid injury.

For me last week, I felt I needed to slow down in Life. I was going at breakneck speed and, if I did not reduce my pace anytime soon, I thought I’d find myself laying lifeless in the middle of the road.

So, after last Friday—the day I finalized work for one large design project and fortunately the same day that both kids were back in the pink of health—I confessed to my mac that I needed some space. (Yup, that’s why I hardly posted anything new here.)

It was during those days away from the laptop screen that I was able to focus on ME. I happily indulged in days of pampering and pleasure:

1) Treated myself to a massage. I got a home massage one evening last week much to the delight of my left ankle, which was a bit sore from my past two treadmill runs. Fortunately, I found the perfect masseuse for me, Jenny, who has a super strong but relaxing massage style… so different from my masseuse from hell.

2) Got a pedicure/foot massage. It wasn’t so much the foot massage that I desired but the pedicure. I could no longer look at my fourth toe nail staring back at me in all its blackness. My foot just looked hideous. I visited a nail spa last Friday and treated my toe nails to some beautiful red paint.(Uhm, I don’t usually wear red on my toes but this was the only color that effectively concealed the death of my 4th toenail. The lady there said I could return on the last week of October and she would gladly paint all my other 9 toenails black just in time for Halloween!)

3) Visited the parlor. I finally saw my hair stylist again for the first time in months. He chopped 2 inches off my hair. Not that it makes a significant difference since my hair is forever up anyway.

4) Met up with McDreamy. He’s back…my (and a million other women’s) McDreamy is back! If there is one thing that can stop me from running when I’m heading out the door with my shoes on, it would be Dr. McDreamy beckoning me to watch him on television. (Oh okay, maybe my husband begging me to spend the day with him would be another reason too.) So, after months of not watching anything at all, I spent more than an hour glued to the screen watching the first two episodes of Grey’s Anatomy’s Season 4.

5) Went shopping. Actually, I went shopping online a couple of days before I even submitted my work. No, I am not into the newest fashion trend. In fact, I’ve hardly spent a cent on anything but running accessories for the past couple of months. So, I am awaiting my new running partners that should arrive before the month ends. For now, I shall not disclose what these are for fear that, as they say in tagalog, “Baka maudlot!”

6) Ran alone. I needed to feel alive again. I ran in Ayala Alabang on Saturday with my playlist “Running Happy” playing on my nano throughout the hour’s run. I ran to my favorite songs of all time like “Next To You” by Elisabeth Withers, “Just for You” by M People, and “You Are the Universe” by Brand New Heavies and felt supremely happy and reenergized. Aaah, by far, this was the best treat of all.