Running In Place

Well, I got my riding-in-a-bus-with-a-bunch-of-sickos, immune-system-is-on-low, post-vacation bug. I don’t get truly sick often, usually it’s some peripheral little annoyance, but this one is a big ol’ full blown, loopy in the head, sneezing, sniffling downer. And I can’t take sudafed because it gives me heart palpatations, so I’m left with chamomile tea and blackberry brandy (ok, that’s really not so bad ). Anyway, enough complaining - the positive tip is that when I was upright in a chair I was able to get all my Ireland pictures uploaded to Snapfish so you’re all welcome to take a look. The albums are backwards and the trip actually begins in Dublin and ends with Clonmacnoise. The pictures I’ve posted are probably less than 1/2 what I took, but I figured that sparing friends and family from all 9 rolls of film would be the compassionate thing to do.

As for running - well none in the past few days for sure but what I have done with my down time is to hang up a big wall calendar to use as a concise training plan and log (something that I really haven’t kept up to this point - aside from blogging). This way I can not only track my progress but I can write down next year’s goals and races so that I can see how close they really are in the scope of things. I mean, when I think of going from where I am presently to the Boilermaker 15k in 10 months it doesn’t seem that far away, considering that that’s a distance I can’t even fathom right now.

While I can’t say that I am feeling impatient, exactly - I have been having alot of difficulty visualizing myself much beyond the point I am now - which is not a bad point, it just feels a little nowhere. It was right about this time, previously, when I began running 7 minutes/walking 1 minute, that I did get very impatient. I thought, “why can’t I just run like everyone else seems to. Why can’t I be tough and just muscle through running as far as I can.” But I didn’t just run as far as I could - I doubled my running time, and changed from my flat dirt trail to pavement and hills all at once. Next stop, stress fracture - a week before my first 5k. Silly. Anyway, I guess I’m getting that feeling again - like I just want to run (as though it’s a destination, not a journey). On the other side of the coin - I find myself so, almost, paranoid that I’m going to hurt myself again. Every twinge freaks me out and has the potential (in my mind) to totally sideline me again, and that’s alot of baggage to drag along on a run.

So what do I know? I know that I’m just going to keep plugging along. I know that I am being smart to be conservative right now but I’ve got to work on chilling out a little. I know that the AMA’s 5k Heart Run in February is doable and would be a great first race because there is amazing community involvement. And the Boilermaker in July is totally doable and a dream of mine from before I even started running. So I’ll do ‘em! If I can see it in my mind I can do it - so I’ve got to work on seeing it - AND be patient.

Thank you, Me, for the pep talk And thank you RBF for the amazing example of seeing your goals and sharing the amazing process of making them happen - it makes me think “that could (will) be me too!”

Ok, evidently I’ve had enough blackberry brandy - I’m gonna start hugging people and slurring “I love ya man, I really do” soon. Off to bed with my flannel robe and box of tissues.