Attack of the pollen..

Pollen City...

After laying low this weekend with the cold, I woke up yesterday feeling good enough to caffeinate and put on my running shoes... Being a total beginner, and trying to start running, well, missing five days isn't good. Especially when the last time I went out, I ran for 8 minutes straight.....!  Those of you who would consider yourself runners probably find this laughable, but consider: I haven't run for 8 minutes straight like...ever.  Or at least since sophomore year of high school.

So anyways, yesterday I put my running shoes on, leashed up my dog, and set out to sweat a little bit.  All was going alright, although I definitely felt the days of bedrest with a cold.  They just cut the cornstalks down, and it was a pretty windy day, both of which I think contributed to what happened next.  I was overcome by a violent sneezing fit, with the kind of sneeze that almost knocks you over.  Still about 15 minutes from my house, I tried to recover and (somewhat) gracefully return home-but the sneezes continued!  And continues....

It feels like someone shoved a tiny nail up my left nostril, and no amount of nose blowing, or hot saltwater snorting, or itching or sniffeling will get rid of it =/  I guess some pollen got up there and is trying to procreate inside my nostril and its just painful/annoying enough to make me want to cry.  Instead, I'm continuing to blow my nose, sniffel, flush it out with water-all of which is starting to hurt too.  Argh...

Just hoping it will go away sooner than later, but it is maddening for sure.

It continues to be Cold up here, Volcano hike is Postponed until next week.  I am making headway on a Bird Guide for the park =)  and daydreaming about coming home more often than not.  I've been gone for two years, long enough for my friends to start careers, move across the country, fall in love, make babies-gah, but time has flown by.  When I was saying goodbye, it felt like I would be gone forever.  And while it has gone by fast, it seems it has also been long enough for everything to change...

Update: Killed it at P90X Yoga, which I decided to do instead of running due to high wind and freezing cold...Also knocked loose whatever was stuck in my nose. Musta been all that deep breathing.