Blisters

Today I went on my longest run in a great long while. I had a distance goal (no speed goal) of 4 miles, and a vague idea that I might try out my understanding of the Galloway method and run for 3 minutes and walk 1 minute for as long as I can. The first half of the run went very well- maintained that ration for 1.75m, then needed to walk a little longer, so planned to switch to a 2:1 ratio. Unfortunately, midway through my first 2:1, right about the 2m mark, my left ankle barked at me that it had a blister.

I tried to walk it off, adjust my position and generally determined to *just deal with it.* I briefly paused to check my ankle and noticed that the band-aid I'd lovingly placed over my blister spot (trying to be pro-active!) had slipped off. Annoyed, I attempted to reapply and adjust my sock and *just keep going.* And the more I tried to just go through it, the more pain I was in- both from the blister and from doing things like walking on my toe, walking on different areas of my foot, and trying to move past it. Finally I broke down and realized I was just gonna have to walk the rest of the way. Even that was too much and finally, I stumbled over to a bench for support and decided to take the still-functioning band-aid off my right ankle and relocate it to my left, hoping it would manage. I tied my shoes extra tight, determining that this would help and, if I had to sacrifice the top of my foot to a bruise from the shoelaces that this would be better than further ripping the skin off my ankle.

Unfortunately, all those things I was doing to try and muscle through the pain made it impossible to run more. The entirety of the second half of the run was a walk- but a power walk. And it got me thinking.

A blister is nothing but a small wound that is insanely irritating. I began to think about what emotional blisters people might have- what small wounds are insanely irritating and effect your choices, even though it seems like they must be tiny. In what ways do people try to deal with those things that ultimately make them worse? And when do people finally realize that maybe, just maybe, it's ok to need support for the small stuff? That it's ok to stop and truly course correct- whether that means sacrificing a goal, sacrificing something else that might be going ok, or sacrificing an innate sense of stubbornness that, perhaps, needed to be sacrificed anyway.

And then maybe you can learn a lesson or two. For instance, I'll now be packing my new Camelback MiniMULE with fresh bandages (nothing like a little coping ahead)- and perhaps doing some reflecting on what emotional "blisters" might be holding me back in other areas of my life- what may need to be "sacrificed" for an overall betterment of my life.