Yesterday I walked 3 miles if only to get out and about. It wasn’t enough. I didn’t run. I was in a foul mood that continues to this moment. My ankle is still bugging me. But I’m left with a dilemma that eventually morphs into a Morton’s Fork.
It seems to me I’m down to two options:
1) I skip running again and hope my ankle improves BUT I lose out on endorphins, feel slothful and heavy and psychologically down.
2) I go for a run and ankle be damned (maybe it’s already better I rationalize and this is then a test!) and I hopefully rise out of the funk… unless my ankle hurts in which case I could be doing more harm than good and wind up needing to take even more time off and spiraling downward into the throes of depression and melancholy.
I was thinking this was a Sophie’s Choice but that’s not quite right — it MIGHT be a no-win situation but like James T. Kirk of old, I don’t want to believe in the no-win scenario. It’s not a Hobson’s Choice which is really more of a take it or leave it. I *think* it’s a Morton’s Fork wherein there’s two options of equivalent and unfortunately undesirable results.
If I don’t run, I’m unhappy. If I do run, I could do more harm than good and not be able to run for a lot longer then if I just wait a bit longer to get back out on the road.
However, it seems to me that Option 1 is a guaranteed unhappiness for potential future happiness if my ankle improves whereas Option 2 has a chance of success and only a potential unhappy downside if my ankle doesn’t rebound as fast as I’d like.
So what’s the better risk? As I started this post I was 100% sure I was going to go for a run… but as I finish and get ready to click “Publish”… I’m not so sure.
I suppose there’s no other way to end this post than to quote Yogi Berra:
“If you come to a fork in the road, take it.”
Updated at 4:51 PM Pacific — After much hemming and hawing, I opted for a compromise run of 3 miles. I was slow and the ankle was a bit shaky, but at least I did SOMETHING. I’m feeling doldrum-y… which if I learned anything from Norman Juster means the only way out may be through my own mind. That and sometimes you need help from a dog who ticks but is named Tock. Oh, and given the current political climate:
“Everybody is so terribly sensitive about the things they know best.”
― The Phantom Tollbooth