Between injury and illness, I fell off the running bandwagon for a couple of months. Without sounding too sorry for myself, I have to say it's discouraging to have gotten so far and then have a relapse into a major depression. My resilience in handling bad events still isn't where I want to be. The loss of what I'd thought was a promising personal relationship along with fighting persistent pain from my back and neck problems took a toll on my mood that was pretty bad.
I have been pursuing other ways of managing my depression, but the physical activity and social aspect of team running are both things that work for me. Anyone who has suffered depression knows how incredibly difficult it is, when you're in the middle of it, to get yourself moving. With people. So today is a small victory for me.
I met up with Polly, Emily, and Billy from my running team. Starting from scratch - three miles. We did the three at an average 13 minutes per mile pace. Felt good, better than I expected. Emily and her brothers are signed up to run a half marathon in March, as are some others from my team. I don't have a half on the horizon, though I am looking for one. Can't do the one they are training for in March, but...at least I have partners for long runs at least once a week.
It feels good to be back!
