What I missed about running

I got the okay from my doctor's nurse Tuesday to go ahead and run again. She told me to take it slow so I won't reinjure my right leg, but if you are a runner and you are reading this, you know that telling a runner to take it slow is like telling a TV weatherman to get it right. It's impossible.
I haven't run since March 8 and while out, I thought about a lot of things I miss not being able to run:
*Downloading my run from my Garmin 305 forerunner to Sport Tracks. I am a geek about the science of running, my heart rate, my pace, how long I spent in a certain zone. I've spent as many hours staring at my computer analyzing a run as I have spent stretching before a run.
*Eating what I want without guilt. No surprises here, though the desire to run faster makes me eat as nutritiously as possible.
*Soreness after a long run: My body talks to me when I know I've had a nice long run, or put together two or three good workouts in a row. My quads ache a little. My left knee gets a little stiff. The blister on my right big toe stings a little.
*The taste of my post-workout shake: Usually after a run lasting at least an hour, I drink a big bottle of Gatorade or Endurox. It's more sugar in one setting than I'll probably have at any other time during the day. But it's yummy, and, according to all of the sports scientists, well-needed.
*Getting my 2nd wind: It takes about 10 minutes for my lungs and the rest of my systems to get all warmed up during a run. But when I'm ready, some days I feel like I'm floating.
*Familiar faces: I do most of my runs around 7 am on the Trinity Trails in Fort Worth. I always see the same faces at the same point in my run. It's like clock-work.
The man on a bicycle.
The really old man _ gotta be at least in his 70s _ walking in the cold, wearing a suit coat to protect him from the elements, his face sun-burned, his gray hair covered by a worn wool hat.
The hispanic woman jogging. It always seems like when I'm done, she is just getting started.
The Tuesday morning running group from Luke's Locker led by Noreen.
*Saturday long runs: I missed these the most. Saturdays on the Trinity Trail is like, man, like a religion for me. I park my car. I stretch. And before my eyes is like this symphony of activity. The shuffling of feet. The vroom of cars going down Riverfront Drive. Runners in groups talking to each other. The crazy guy named Loy.
Even though I rarely speak to anyone, these people are like family, this atmosphere is like my own Norman Rockwell painting. You got elites and 12-minute milers sharing the crushed limestone and the paved sidewalks that make up the Trinity Trails. It's spiritual man. Just spiritual.