Wednesday, August 26, 2009

2 more days and then I'm off!

2 days until departure and I am off the coffee already

I’m a last minute kind of girl so you can just guess how things are looking over here, after 2 months in Finland and with 2 days until my China departure… Yes, I am more of less panicking. Panicking over deadlines (why did I leave everything until that very last minute?!), over how bad my Chinese has gone, about all the things I still have to do: some essential must-bring-because-cannot-get-in-China-shopping (mainly food or hygiene products), a serious clean up (this place looks like a war zone!), packing (how am I going to fit all my stuff into my suitcase? Oh, the usual pain) and then I have about 1 million papers to fill, some job applications to send, some friends to see/call/say goodbye to, and, not to be forgotten, a job to finish!

I’ve had so much in my head during these last few days that I haven’t been able to fall asleep at night (and I really tried everything! Went to bed super tired, read a book, changed my sheets, took a shower, drank some water, put my head where I normally have my feet, counted backwards from 347 and so on… still, I couldn’t fall asleep!). Then I’ve gotten a rash all over my legs, plus a blister in my mouth –all the typical signs of me being maybe a tad bit stressed.

I figured a power walk could do me some good when I got home today after work, so I put on some training clothes and went out there. Although, once I was out there walking and saw all the runners around me I got even more stressed. Going back to China. Not In Shape. At All. AT ALL! That was not how it was supposed to be!!

So, I glanced down at my sprained ankle, thinking: “I have now been walking without the ankle support for a few days now and that has been going well… I’ve even started taking the stairs everyday rather than the elevator.. but could I really… run? Well… I don’t know. Maybe not. But… nothing wrong with trying, right?”

Nope. Nothing wrong with trying. 40 minutes later I came home, exhausted. Legs feeling like jelly. But mind felt as if I had just flown to another planet. The planet of feeling good and de-stressed. Think how easy it can be sometimes.

But, best of all. I ran! I did it! My foot didn’t hurt and I ran for 40 minutes without stopping. Sure, we are not talking any Bai Xue marathon speed here, oh no no, I was more like a senior woman out jogging. (On flat ground only. I didn't dare the forest) But who cares? Not me anyways. Main thing is that the foot held up.

Now the ankle is quite swollen, but it doesn’t hurt. I take that as a good sign.

And, funny thing is that after that run I sat down and went through about 90% of all the papers I had to go through, sent some emails that have just been waiting to be sent, cooked myself some nice food (yes, cooked, not de-frosted) and felt rather good about everything. Now I am just waiting for a night of good sleep and then I am ready to deal with the rest!

China, here I come!

5 comments:

Brad Farless said...

Funny. The last few nights my mind has been spinning and I haven't been able to sleep. I"m actually in a "I can't sleep" moment now. I should be asleep, because in 15 minutes my alarm will go off so I can have a quick breakfast and then hurry to the airport. Well, at least when the plane lands in Thailand and I get to the hotel I'll be able to rest.

By the way, glad to hear you can run again. Sad thing is that if it's swollen now, that means the pain is going to come later.

Harvee said...

Soounds like a lot to look forward to! Have fun!

Carl said...

Wow! Congratulations, Jonna! You certainly have bounced back quickly with the ankle. Glad to hear you are running again, and hope you can work you way back into a normal running routine very soon. Take care and hope that ankle keeps improving as quickly as it has recently.

Jonna Wibelius said...

Brad -ohhh Thailand?!?! Well if u r going there on a holiday, u have a lot of time to snooze on the beach! Enjoy!

U know what, there is still no pain in the foot.. very strange, seeing that it is still swollen.. gahh!?

Big Bird Dog -I sure do!!! :)

Carl -thanks Carl, you are always so encouraging! How's your own running coming along?

Brad Farless said...

Yup. I'm actually at an internet cafe in the Patong Beach area right now. Getting ready to have lunch and then wander down to the beach to relax. Hopefully the rain will hold off long enough for me to enjoy the scenery for a while.