First steps ... a second time

On Saturday morning, I woke up 3 minutes before my alarm started wailing "The Power of Love" by Huey Lewis and the News (you know, one of the most memorable ones from Back to the Future). I dragged myself out of bed and looked out the window at the black sky with wet pellets cascading down. In my morning daze, I managed to put on my training garb and dash from the front door to my car. Why I bothered to dash, I'm not sure. If the rain didn't stop, I was still going to be outside in it for the next few hours.

I drove to Balboa park and when I made the turn from Burbank onto Balboa and saw the cones that were being placed to close Burbank, it dawned on me that when it rains, the Sepulveda basin floods and they close not only the park, but also the steets leading to the park. Uh oh.

But as 6:30 rolled around, and my fabulous TNT leaders found street parking and met outside of the closed park, we caught a break. Literally. A break in the storm. And miraculously, this break lasted for the entire practice and post-practice pot-luck. We revised our training schedule to account for the weather (i.e., no timed mile on wet slippery ground and no strength training because nobody wanted to lay down on top of the puddles).

Practice was really amazing, all things considered. We warmed up for 6 minutes up and down Balboa, stretched as a group and one of our amazing and inspiring participants led us in our mission moment. She spoke to us about how she was inspired by her mother, who passed away from a blood cancer about ten years ago. 100 pounds lighter, our amazing participant (who has already met her fundraising goal even though it's only the third week), decided to join TNT and run a marathon and celebrate life. Despite being such an inspirational person with such an inspirational message, she was nervous to speak to the group. She read from an excerpt of a letter that she had written. I was moved twice -- once by her story but the second time, by the courage it took her to share it with us. And I thought about how public speaking is probably most people's greatest fear...but at least on Saturday morning, we were all listening to our participant speak publicly not to judge, to insult, or to compare ourselves to her, but to hear what she had to say and to be inspired on our run. That's a good thing to keep in mind next time I need to speak to a group. The group wants the speaker to succeed (usually :-)).

After our mission moment and our "go TEAM" we were off. Because the weather was still nice, we ran through the park from Balboa towards Woodley, 25 minutes out and back. Because I wanted to take things slowly, I ended up walking 99% of the route. But just moving for the sustained period outdoors was so refreshing and invigorating. I saw hawks, an egret, some mist atop of the lake, and even a rainbow. All of which I would have missed had I not dragged myself out of bed. I enjoyed the company of old friends and new, and was reminded of how life is infinitely more enjoyable when I force myself to rise early and challenge myself on Saturday mornings.


A few moments before I got back into my car, the sky opened up and the clouds dumped two hours worth of collected unspent rain. My hips felt stiff.

And I can't wait to do it all over again next week!

Refreshed and Ready

It's been a while since I updated this blog because it's unfortunately been a while since I've been able to do any serious running. During the week after the Nike Women's Marathon, I was in such pain that I could barely walk without cringing. After a month of rest and stretching, the pain hadn't improved and I got an MRI of my right hip. It didn't show a stress fracture, thankfully, but I continued to rest and stretch. When it barely improved, I began working with a physical therapist to strengthen and stretch the hip. Apparently I have tendonitis.
It's been mentally tough to stay motivated and enthusiastic while being unable to train and having to watch races that I had signed up for months ago pass me by. But my hard work is starting to pay off and I'm finally able to walk a decent amount of mileage and include some running in the mix. I'm confident that the strengthening exercises I'm doing will make me a faster and stronger runner over the long run, and although I've been instructed that I should not plan to complete a full marathon this spring/summer, I am looking forward to training potentially for a half, even if that means I will be doing more walking than running.
The Summer Session for TNT is well under way and I'm team captain for some of the most incredible, inspiring, and inspired athletes I've ever met. It gives me a rush to wake up before the sun and hang out with them every Saturday morning. Who on earth looks forward to 6:30 am on Saturday mornings?!? Well, I'm now one of the few.
I can't believe that the last time I really ran for any decent amount of time was October 18. It's been about four months, so I really will be starting back at the beginning. I assume it will be a little frustrating for me not to be able to go out as fast as I was, and even more frustrating that my endurance is no longer where it was in the fall. But dealing with setbacks is part of training, and I certainly have no interest in giving up.
Nike really was a great event for me. Prior to it, my half marathon time had hovered around 3 hours and 40 minutes. (Okay, in my defense, it was my first race, was on mostly uneven trails, and I walked 99% of it -- and I stopped for 3 bathroom breaks and took a million pictures). But Nike was different. I ran/walked with Kelley Last (who is to blame for my getting into this crazy business in the first place). But because the starting area was so completely packed, we literally couldn't make it to the area where the people who ran a similar pace were waiting. So we started off with a much faster group of people, and for fear of being trampled, kept up with the faster pace for the first mile or so. It's basically the opposite of what you're supposed to do on a distance run -- we took off like horses out of the gate. But the beautiful San Francisco weather and scenery and the general energy around us sustained us, and we continued to make pretty good time throughout most of the course.
It's so much fun to run with someone you enjoy. You end up in a bit of a trance and miles literally fly by without your being completely conscious of it. Ultimately, Kelley wanted to PR and I really was at a slower pace, so we separated for the last few miles. I had my Garmin and my ipod and experienced a very different kind of a race for those last miles. I had to push myself and dig deep when I thought I couldn't keep going at mile 11. But as I turned into the park for the last stretch and "Welcome to the Jungle" suddenly came on my ipod, I got that extra burst of energy that I needed. I made it to the Ghiradelli stop, downed my quick sugar, listened to more Guns 'n Roses, saw the clock and realized that there was a very real possibility that I could break 3 hours if I didn't slow down and walk. So I dug deep and finished strong in 2:55:16, my new PR.
So, post-PR and hip injury where does this leave me? With the knowledge of what I'm capable of doing, with more respect for my body's limitations and signals, with more patience and good sense and more drive to ultimately exceed my expectations.
But I have to take it one step at a time.