I told myself I was just going for a walk.

Today was one of those days. You know, the shitty ones. So this afternoon I shut my laptop a little early and tell myself to go take a stroll by the lake. Wear headphones, don't wear headphones; run, don't run... just go.

"You'll feel better" I say to myself.

Yeah, well, nobody asked you.

A glance outside reveals that Mother Nature is having one of those days, too. The sky is dark and dreary. Clouds are swirling this way and that with no real pattern to them. They look about as conflicted on which direction to go as I feel about whether or not to walk to the water. Still, I throw on my running shorts and lace up my ankle brace.

My ankle's actually been doing great and I'm not even sure I need to wear this thing anymore when just going for a walk/jog/run. I do anyway, though. I don't know... It just feels like Murphy's Law or something—like when you don't bring an umbrella and it rains. Whatever, the brace is on and I'm back at my desk with my laptop open, but only for a minute, because I forgot to send an email I said I was going to send. So I'm just doing that and then, yeah, I'll go for a quick jaunt through the neighborhood.

It's been a low and slow week of resting, icing, compressing, and elevating. I, uh... well I tweaked my calf last weekend in our soccer playoffs. On the other leg. Yep, sure did. Why not, right? Evens things out a bit, I guess.

So with the door finally closed behind me, I put on my sunglasses so I can be Clark Kent on this adventure. I just don't feel like talking to anyone right now and this feels like a way to retreat into a bit of anonymity. I actually love snowboard goggles for this, too. When I was a kid, I used to sit in the basement wearing a beanie and goggles while watching snowboard videos in like, July or August.

The wind swirls for all of thirty seconds while setting out down the street, and then it  just stops. I mean, it still looks like it's going to storm but I don't give a shit at all about getting wet. Not today. So at the end of my street, I turn left and start to jog.

And I told myself I was just going for a walk.

Pssshhht.

 

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Do you take your own advice?

onward.

For more on this daily column, read the backstory here. And if you know someone who'd appreciate this, pass it along.