Friday, February 19, 2010

"First Rule of Fight Club....."


You DO NOT talk about Fight Club..... or the possibility that I've injured myself while training for Boston!
So that's what I've done, not talked about the fact that my hamstrings hurt, my groin muscles hurt, and my left foot feels like it's broken. I've talked to the people I need to talk about these issues and that's all the talking I'm going to do.
Slap another band-aid on, because I'm running Boston even if I have to crawl.

I will talk about this though. I got new shoes to fit my narrow foot. So now I have one leg shorter than the other requiring a lift and one foot wider than the other. This is why my bloody toes keep coming up through my left shoe. It's swimming around in there. So hopefully problem solved.
I ran yesterday and felt wonderful comparatively. The aches were so minimal and the foot was 90% better. So that is what I'll talk about.
My prayers have been heard and I know my God loves me. So much that he provides even the silly desires of my heart. Like a desire to run 26.2 miles at one time. God is good, all the time.

I will also talk about my family. They've prayed with me everyday and hoped and believed with me. Together we've all been able to keep it in perspective too. My injuries are minuscule when mirrored against the realities of this world. There are children starving all over the world, illnesses in my own circle, jobless families.... the list could go on forever. When I put it in order, my spirits have remained incredibly high, because I have so much and am truly blessed.
Boston is my gift. I plan to receive that gift with joy, no matter what form it comes in.

So on to more things I like talking about.
Even though the runs have been "ify" and the weather's provided some slippery surfaces, there are some note worthy antidotes.
Two Saturday's ago I met with the group for our miles. In order to get maximum time with all the runners, some of us go early to get in the extra miles we need and then head back in to start with the rest of the group. All this to say, when we were approaching the dead opossum for my 2nd time that morning, I gave warning to the others so they wouldn't be surprised like I had been. After I hollered my, Watch out! Dead opossum!" My friend chimed in, "Yeah, you should of seen her earlier, she yelped. That's the first time I've seen Lacy act like a girl!"
I had to laugh too. I don't spit, I've never let a fart fly on a run, never shot a snot rocket, and I barely ever sweat enough to stink too bad. But when you are accused of "chicking" the guys, I guess there's not room for being too girly out there. But I guess dead opossum brings it out in me.
On Monday after the Super Bowl, snow covered the city. It was soft slushy snow. At 5 AM, it was already well above freezing, it was calm, and actually very nice outside. I met one of my training partners for our 5 am run. Due to said partner's position in our fair city, the plows were sure to be out plowing the streets they know he runs on every morning. Bonus for me. I guess running with Mr. City Manager has it's perks. We ran our normal Monday route. We had some trouble where the snow wasn't cleared. It was deep, over 4 inches in some spots. Due to this we decided to skip the river path on run on the street. Up until this point our run had been pretty quiet. Only one car passed too close and soaked us in slush. As we rounded the curve on the street we noticed a car had done a 180 over the median and was attempting to get back on the road. As we passed we watched as another car came around the curve, fish tail, lose control, go up onto the median, slide into a small tree, and have all the snow from the tree fall on it's roof. I reached for my phone assuming I'd need to call for assistance. Nope! The little Ford Festiva restarted , put it in reverse, and took off down the street. We laughed thinking that was the most drama we would see for the morning. Then we looked up and saw a city bus nearly mimicking the little festiva's every move. As it came too quickly down the street, I jumped in the grass. I hear Mr. Manager drop a bomb, which he spent the rest of the morning apologizing for, and see the bus fishtail right past us. After we did the individual "am I still here?" pat down, we checked on each other and got the heck off the street.
As the adrenaline surge died down, we finished up. Only to hear Mr. Manager tell me with glazed over eyes that he had often joked he'd like to choose the way he'd die. "I always said I'd like to be out running and just get hit by a bus, " he said. As we realized that had just nearly happened, he changed his mind. Who knew running could be so dramatic?

Here's The Numbers:
Saturday 2/6: 18 miles
Sunday 2/7: 3 miles
Monday 2/8: 10 miles
Tuesday: 6 miles and weights
Wednesday: 10 miles
Thursday: 6 miles and weights
Friday: 5 miles and 45 minute spin class
Saturday 2/13: 12 miles
Sunday 2/14: 3 miles
Monday: 10 miles
Tuesday: 6 miles (on indoor track 14 laps=1 mile!) Weights
Wednesday 6 miles
Thursday 2/18: 10 very comfy miles!!!!
Friday:6 miles and weights




6 comments:

  1. uh, you know, one thing that might help with some of those aches and pains is cutting back on the nearly 60 mile weeks. Just a thought ;)

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  2. Wow...was that like 14 days of straight running! Man..that is impressive. Uhhh...to Mark's comment, do you take rest days at all?? :)

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  3. Sorry to hear about your injuries. I am pretty convinced that marathon training pretty much means training on the edge of injury and hoping you don't go over! It's frustrating! All my "regulars" have been nagging me lately--right IT band blah and tendonitis in my left foot blah. I'm hoping a cutback week simmers them down! Hopefully you experience some healing. I know God sees the desires of our hearts! We should run together sometime--
    April G.

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  4. uhhhh was that the opposum on 2nd and oliver?! if it was, i sure did almost step on that, like two weeks ago, right? i screamed and jumped a little when i saw it! blech. also. you are a machine!!

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  5. oh also, was kenton at the dillons marketplace on sunday afternoon? getting chinese food perhap? i made a stop in there on my run and could have SWORN it was a kenton sighting :) i have those every now and then. maybe one day i'll actually introduce myself!

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  6. Oh my gosh, you do run some CRAZY mileage. I'm so impressed with your dedication!! No wonder you're headed to Boston. :)

    Yeah, the weather here has been the pits...the cold is one thing, it's another that it seems to snow/rain/sleet/ice every other day or so. Or at least on the days before all my long runs.

    So your bloody toenails were caused by your shoes being too WIDE?? Cause I have the same problem with a couple of my toenails from time to time, and I also have narrow feet...I run in reg-width shoes, though, cause the people at First Gear seemed to think those were the better fit and thought my toe issues might just be the natural way my feet move when I run. Now I'm wondering if I should give narrower shoes a try?

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