I’m 99.7% positive that at some point during the last ten years I have been writing this blog that I've mentioned why running means so much to me, but just in case I haven't, I'll tell you now. I run because it makes me feel connected to the people I love and respect most in the world.

I also run 99.9% of the time by myself.

Therefore, I don't need to be with these heroes in person, or to receive any sort of acknowledgement from them before, during, or after I run, but when I run, I think of them, I feel more connected to them, and in turn those feelings fuel me to be a stronger, faster, and better runner every time I run.

Recently, I’ve had a couple of hitches in my giddy-up. Literally, my legs have been bothering me, and in the most technical terms I can think of, running has just not felt right. And although I am competitive and strive to improve constantly as an athlete, what has really bothered me, and/or sucker punched my heart, is that if I couldn't run, would the connection to those that give me the reason to run disappear?

Probably not.

But emotions aren’t rational. They don’t have to be. They’re just meant to rattle and knock our priorities back on track. And they did.

For the last couple of weeks, I have been doing everything I can think of to sort my leg issues out (foam rolling, stretching, HyperVolting, nightly NormaTech Compression boot dates, Massage, enhancing nutrition, etc.) in order to run like myself again. I don’t need to be any faster, honestly, but just fast enough so that I can feel like myself, and to connect (and/or transport), my running- infused positive energy to the ones I love most again.

Good news, it’s working.

“If you want something bad enough…”
- Dr. Dawn Buratti, aka, my podiatrist when she discovered my hammer toe’s pathology was improving because of my relentless tactics to heal my toe in order to run again in 2019.

The song and video choice this week is a new and very cool tune from the group Panic! At The Disco, “Don’t Let The Light Go Out.”