In a Funk

I am in something of a funk lately. Part of it has to do with everything going on with my mom right now. It's hard to really take running too seriously when I know that my mom is in a battle for her life every second of the day. It kind of puts the running thing in perspective. Also contributing to my somewhat glum world view right now is this stupid cold that I can't seem to kick. It isn't completely debilitating or anything. It's basically a cough and stuffy head. However, it left me feeling tired out and groggy. I've been able to keep up my mileage so far this week, but the few times I've tried to drop the pace below about 6:30, I'm overcome with phlegm and go into coughing fits. Sorry for the visual. The cold is also preventing me from going to see my mom, who is in the hospital right now, so that isn't helping things either.

Despite all that, I did have a somewhat enjoyable run this morning. I got outside at about 5:30 in the morning and it was just starting to rain ever so slightly. By the time I got about a mile into the run it turned in a very light drizzle, and progressed from there. However, the whole time I was out there, there were some spectacular lightning displays going on. About 3 miles into the run, I turned off into a forest preserve and with the heavy cloud cover and the steady rain, the path was pretty much pitch black, except for the occasional flash of lightning. By the time I was done with run, the rain turned to flash flood levels and it basically turned into a survival run. I remember thinking it was about the most fun I've had running in a while. When else could a grown man be able to just splash through puddles and run around in the rain? I was experiencing a Runner's World moment, which is probably why I didn't see that branch lying on the ground in front of me until it was too late. I was sent sprawling to the ground. Luckily, I was able to flip myself around so I landed on my butt, but I skidded for a good 10 feet or so on my hands and they're in pretty sad shape right now. I was on a black gravel path at the time, and I think I still have some of that path in my hands right now. At that point it was raining so hard that I couldn't even see my hands. When I got home I was able to see the bloody mess. I knew I didn't like Runners World for a reason.

So for the week so far, I'm at 54 miles in 5 runs, which is right where I should be, but I have had 0 workouts. I guess sometimes you just have to roll with the punches and put the mileage in, and worry about speed some other time. It's easy to write that, but it's so much harder to actually believe it.