A run that saved my weekend

This past weekend was not so good in terms of my health.  Most of Saturday was spent lying on the couch, bed or floor. Or just sleeping... and crying.  This is never what I wanted with my life, but no one ever asks for a chronic illness. 

On Saturday I kind of looked like a sick dog in its final days, walking in circles.  The muscles in the right side of my neck cranked my head so viciously to the side that standing upright and walking was just too much effort.  While Nate went out to grab a sandwich for lunch, I called my mom.  "I don't know what to do... it's too much..."  We discussed disability.  I know as a Fed there are retirement options available once I hit 5 years, but I'm not quite at that point, and I'd feel like a failure as a productive person in society.  Sticking it out as long as I can, trying the best that I can is all I can do.

Saturday night I took Artane, a very strong Parkinson's disease medication.  It helped me sleep, but sure enough, the rigidity in my neck came back early Sunday afternoon.  I just wallowed in self-pity and complained to my husband, "I don't want to live like this."  I didn't get the laundry done.  I didn't get my Easter decorations out.  I had to send Nate out for the grocery shopping.  Failure as a wife, a friend, a daughter, an employee... and as much as I tried to snap out of it, I just couldn't.

Nate asked me before he went shopping, "Is there ANYTHING I can do to make you feel better?"  Then something inside me... this warm feeling flooded my body as I came up with a fantastic idea.  "Nate, will you bike alongside me while I run?  We can run the UB bike path!"  (Nate says I am not allowed to run this alone, as there are wooded areas and a lot of bad people out there.  It's where the infamous bike bath rapist preyed upon some of his victims.)

When Nate got home, I had never been so happy to help put groceries away!  I threw my running clothes on, and Nate got his bike out, filling the tires with air.  We made our way to the bikepath, and somewhere around 4 miles, made a wrong turn off of the path.  Oops!  But I just felt so great, trotting along with my husband riding next to me. 

"Nicole, I think we need to turn around."

"I don't turn around!"

We made it to the University at Buffalo campus and I told him we'd circle the campus, and make our way back onto the bike path, which would lead us back home.  So, we strayed from the plan, but in the end, I got a nice 7 mile run out of it.  Even better, Nate said had a really nice time biking next to me.  He said he just couldn't believe I could run that distance.  I just said to him, "It's really not a big deal... it's just running!"

The rest of the evening I felt better.  No, my symptoms did not go away, but the endorphins flowing through my body outweighed any negative feelings I had been experiencing as a result of my disease.  I was happy.

A famous quote came to my mind during that run. It pertains not just to running and getting lost, but to life:

Endomondo Running Workout: was out running 7.01 miles in 58m:55s using Endomondo.