A Zombie Trash-Kicking Day (and documenting the sickness of my summer)

Today was just freaking good, okay. So good, I'll blog about it.

It all started when I woke up (so. surprising. right?). But really. I woke up in something of an euphoric state, almost. From my very waking moment, my teeth were gritted and my feet were eager to book it away from...everything.

Now, this has pretty much everything to do with the disease I had come over me this summer. In July, I was diagnosed with Pertussis, also known as Whooping Cough. Whooping Cough is stupid, don't get it, okay? It's obnoxious, more than anything, because when you have it, you FEEL fine, but the inside of your respiratory literally has this nasty, scab-like thing all over it (according to my doctor). Because of this, if you over exert yourself (which, in the beginning of the condition, just getting up can be exerting), you get these cough-attacks where you can't breathe and end up puking from coughing so much. Yep. So, you feel like you're bed-ridden for no reason, because you feel fine, but you can't do anything. Oh. And this beast can last two weeks to a year, because those scab-like things in the respiratory system can take so long to heal. It's been three months and I still have it. BUT! I can do stuff. I don't puke when I get up anymore.

^^Wooooooow. What a novel about how miserable I've been. That's not how it was supposed to turn out. Because I haven't been miserable at all, even with the cough.

Since being diagnosed with Pertussis, I've had to give up (temporarily) one of my favorite passions: running. Since the diagnosis, I have tried over and over and over to run like I used to, but my body just wouldn't allow it. I hated it. Yesterday I tried again after allowing some healing time, and failed. I'll have you know I kicked the wall so hard I almost put a hole through it. Failing over and over at something you love so much...it's frustrating, as you might know.

But back to this morning. I woke up with a line from a song (<---- LISTEN TO IT) a good friend of mine introduced to me stuck in my head. "You can go the distance, you can run the mile; you can walk straight through hell with a smile." Since hearing the song, that line has bothered me, pestered me, driven me to be stupid enough to try to run one more time. For some reason, there was something about that line that was special today. Today was the day I was going to be everything I've ever wanted to be, at least for a few hours. In every aspect of my life, but specifically running. All during seminary I plotted how I would enable myself to run like I did before. I realized it was a mental thing more than anything else.

I need an incentive. A focus. I thought to myself. Fear. What would scare me into running through the feeling of needing to cough and throw up?

And then, it came to me: Zombies. 

You're darn right. I put my vivid imagination to good use and, like a seven-year-old, pretended I was running from a hoard of zombies the whole time I ran. It felt REAL. I'M NOT EVEN KIDDING. And you know what? I ran five miles, which I haven't done since before Pertussis, and you know what else? I did it faster than I ever have before.

Guys. Zombies will get you in shape, no joke.

I KICKED ZOMBIE TRASH.
And then I did yoga on a four foot tall, one foot thick brick wall. It really required me to focus on my balance, and I loved it. It felt fantastic. If you have a wall to do yoga on, do yoga on it.

I love life. A lot.
Do anything you set your mind to.
I hope your day was as fantastic as mine.

Julia