Well, I’m finally running again and I can’t begin to tell you how good it feels. My legs are sore, and happy. My feet are happy. And my Hokas are very, very happy (I think they had been feeling a bit neglected).

I’m up to 8.5 miles, which isn’t much when compared to my pre-injury days, when I could run 18-20 with barely a blink. Okay, I blinked and sometimes blinked hard but it still wasn’t a big deal. It was simply just another run.

Now I thank god for every mile. Being injured can do that, force you to slow down and appreciate everything you once took for granted. Such as moving your legs without pain. Such as expecting your knee to bend and then straighten, bend and then straighten, over and over again as you pound out the miles.

And next week, I’ll be running here. Cannot wait.

I’ve also mastered the bilateral freestyle stroke, which pleases me immensely. I still occasionally suck up water when I breathe on my right side. But no matter. I can now swim for almost two hours with minimum breaks, which was exactly why I took the lessons to begin with: So that I could substitute swimming for long runs and thus take some of the stress off my aging bones.

And because I love swimming, love being in the water, love how the world veers smaller and smaller until there’s nothing but my breathing, the water and the movement of my body gliding along, lap by lap by lap. It feels timeless, and weightless, and I wonder if we all secretly crave the water, that buoyant feeling of being back in the womb.

And another package arrived in the mail, another Christmas present for yours truly, which I’m sure you can guess: Another pair of Hokas, the Challenger ATR this time. And in pink! Well, actually it’s called beetroot, whatever the hell that means. But it’s close enough for me.

I’m trying so very, very hard to live a minimalist lifestyle and I’m succeeding in every single area. Except for running. Mainly, running shoes. I don’t buy a lot of them but I do salivate when I see them, and I can’t help myself from wanting more and more and more, even though I only have two feet, and even though those two feet can wear one pair of shoes at once. Still, it’s my one vice, my one deadly sin, and since I don’t drink, smoke or even consume caffeine, I suppose lusting after running shoes isn’t such a terrible thing.

Last week’s stats:
Monday: Weights, 35 minutes, 2.5 miles running, 1.5 hours biking
Tuesday: Swimming, 1.5 hours
Wednesday: Weights, 30 minutes, 5.5 miles speed intervals, 30 minutes bike
Thursday: Swimming. 2.25 hours
Friday: Rest day (and watched Amazing Race, my guilty pleasure)
Saturday: 8.5 miles and 45 minutes bike
Sunday: Weights, 40 minutes, 1 hour bike

What I’m reading: Just finished this, for the second time, and it was even better than the first. I’m reviewing it for the paper shortly so don’t want to say too much and use up all of my words. Except that I loved, loved, loved it, and that the lyrical prose reminded me of swimming, of gliding smoothly through the water.

Have a great week, everyone.