I wrote for nearly five hours today. It’s been a long, long time since I wrote that much in one day, and I’m feeling it.

When I run, particularly if I haven’t run in a long time, it’s the same kind of feeling. The first five minutes or so are OK… maybe I’m a little off in my running rhythm, or maybe my muscles haven’t quite warmed up yet and I feel a little stiff. Then,  I hit the wall. It gets harder to breathe, and my lungs begin to ache. The muscles in my legs are straining to keep going; my feet throb, my knees pop and creak. I wonder if I’ll be able to continue running. I wonder if I want to continue running. It feels awful. Finally, maybe 15 minutes in, I’m over the wall. Breathing gets easier, my legs feel stronger, my head clears, and I feel as though I could run forever. (I blame that completely delusional thinking on all of those running endorphins. The feeling lasts another 10 minutes or so until my sporadic running habits have me wheezing to a halt.)

That’s pretty much how writing so much felt to me today. I’m at the wall. Physically, my arms, hands, back, and eyes are not used to sitting in front of a computer and go-go-go typing for so long. Mentally, I’m off my game too. What I am thinking and what I type are often two different things. I can’t seem to spell anything. I had to force myself to sit still and focus.

But! I made progress on the novel. I’m up to about 6,100 words. Today was a slog, and I hoped to get a little farther ahead, since I don’t know how much writing I’ll be able to squeeze in over the next couple of days, but it was progress. I can feel writer-me getting back to work, after a long, long vacation. I just need to get over that wall.