Hitting the Wall

The end of the week. 

The end of the semester.

The end of the year.

The very-abstract-end of COVID.*

This should all boost my spirits, but it's doing the opposite, or so it feels. Every day feels harder and harder, each day requires more energy and patience. Instead of feeling this spark of optimism that so many of these shifts should inspire, I feel like I should win an award for making my family dinner each night, finishing a stack of essays, or helping my son with a craft. Spoiler alert: no one is giving me any kind of reward whatsoever (and often it feels like the opposite, whatever the opposite of "not an award" is). 

Having ran (or jogged... waddled... "ran" is clearly a bit too generous, but you get it) so many races, I should know better than to assume the final stretch is easy. No matter when the distance, a 5k, 10k, 10 miler, or a half marathon, the last little bit is always excruciating. You hit the wall. 

Technically, when we're talking about strenuous activity "hitting the wall" is when you basically deplete your glycogen stores and feel super tired, but for many of us it's mental, and even emotional. After running ten miles and knowing you still have another 5k to go, a whole race distance, the finish still feels impossibly hard to get to. After spending so much energy you get to the point where you don't know if you have much more to give, and the fact that you know still have to, makes it all that much harder. 

This is where I am at this week, but with life, as opposed to running. And this is clearly where most people are, whether it's with not seeing family because *gasp* actually caring about Covid restrictions, helping kids with distance learning, trying to work at home, finagling the holidays, whatever. Everyone has so much on their plate and it's not getting easier. I mean, sure, if we're sticking with serving-ware imagery, the plate is totally going to get slowly washed and put away, but not soon enough. And I don't even have a dishwasher right now (sigh...), so I'm going to have to wash and dry that damn plate myself.

What was I talking about? Buying new bowls?

The end is in sight, but it's still really far away. 

So, what do I do when I hit the wall when running? I usually try to think about the junk food I'll buy on the way home (burrito, Diet Coke, and a shake), find some new songs on my playlist, slow down and walk if I need to, and force myself to "run to the next corner and reassess how I feel." How does that translate into right now? Bribe, distract, slow down, and, take it one chunk at a time. 

It's not perfect, but it's something.

*I am realistic, I know that the vaccine isn't a complete method of elimination and that life won't suddenly return to normal, but compared to where we were last June, this is the homestretch, at least when I am being a glass-half-full kinda girl...