Running is always such a metaphor for life. Some good days runs, some bad…
After my awesome evening run on Wednesday night I ran again the Thursday during my lunch break. It was such a great 5 miles. I felt like I had bounce in my step—finally! I felt zippy! And I realized that V-neck shirts are awesome because I can clip my iPod Shuffle on my shirt.
sub 11 minutes these days feels zippy. How did I ever run a half marathon at a 9:30 pace? It seems so unattainable these days…
Later on in the day I went for my second shoulder PT appointment. He worked on some knots in the muscles surrounding the rotator cuff which was painful but enjoyable all together. Then I did some range of motion and strength exercises that made me realize how weak my arm really got.
Friday I went into the city to see Dr. Williams for my knee and he declared we’re done with treatment. So that’s it! I’m going to miss all the bruises and pain in some twisted way. I will keep foam rolling and stretching like a champ though. He said to come back in if I need a tune-up after the race. I left his office and took a stroll through Central Park to relish in the completion of “kneehab”.
a “LOVEly” view thru my favorite railing in Central Park
I heart this railing
Yesterday I needed to get my last long run in, but I also needed to be out of the house by 12:30 in the afternoon so I set out for my run about 9:30am figuring 2 hours was more than enough time. I figured this was my last practice run before the marathon and I wanted to focus on a few things, specifically mental games and staying in the mile I’m running. All was going fine until about mile 3 or 4. I don’t know what it was but I was STRUGGLING to run. I could barely breathe and my legs felt like lead. The trees and flowers were in full bloom everywhere which might have spurred on some allergy stuff. I don’t usually feel like I can’t catch my breath when running. Also, we had an unbelievably warm day so that might have contributed to it. Well, whatever the reason my run plain sucked. On the bright side it forced me to work on my mental games. I kept giving myself milestones to reach for. “Just make it to the firehouse and then you can walk. Just walk until the downhill and then get your sh-t together Sally”. I walked a lot of the last 5 miles and only kept going because I had to be on the road to visit my friend Sue by 12:30. The exciting thing to note here is that I was able to start and stop with absolutely no knee pain! Even 2 weeks ago I still felt some discomfort when I would stop running and walk and then try and start running again. What a huge happiness!
I even prepared for the warm weather run and swapped out my hat for a visor and filled a water bottle with some diluted Gatorade just in case. I ended up drinking the entire bottle plus i filled it up at a water fountain too.
I’m calling this the run I needed. I needed to struggle. It’s always good to know I can get through the struggle.
Today marks 16 years since this guy passed away from Melanoma.
He’s finally resting peacefully now that I’ve found love again. =)
Each year on the anniversary of his passing I take a minute to look back and see how much progress I’ve made living (not just existing but really living!) without him. And with the anniversary being so close to the NJ Marathon, It makes the perfect opportunity for me to see how strong I am both physically and mentally. If I could not only navigate through the hard work of caregiving and the sadness and grief of watching my husband die miserably from cancer and then navigate through those early years where I felt so lost I can totally navigate through a tough 26.2 miles undertrained come next Sunday. Maybe it’ll take me 5 hours and 38 minutes rather than 4 hours and 38 minutes but it doesn’t mean I’m any less determined to reach the finish line and honestly it might just feel that much more wonderful to get there this year. And here I go again with the running metaphor of life. Whatever your life goals are, just work at reaching the finish line….get there….don’t worry about the time or the hard work it’ll take to get there…..just focus on getting there.
This week I plan on finalizing all the race week essentials.
1. Get pumped! Well with the Boston Marathon tomorrow I’m sure that will spark all the excitement and inspiration I need.
2. Finalize running playlist: I just found a new song I’m going to add. It’s called Geronimo by a band named Sheppard. And Uptown Funk will be on the list for sure.
3. Make some goals: My A goal is to finish in one piece. My B goal is to finish in one piece and my C goal Yep….to finish in one piece!
4. Hydrate and foam roll: Yeah, this is pretty self explanatory.
5. Get plenty of sleep: Yeah, this is pretty self explanatory too.
So who’s running Boston tomorrow?
Who’s going to watch it on TV?
Who’s going to wear Blue and Yellow?
Who’s got a running/life metaphor to share?
Oh, and here are 2 more pictures Mr. SOTTS took of me when we were in DC last weekend.
How funny is that tree-hugger girl in the white dress. She’s working’ it for the camera.
I never saw what I looked like taking photos before.
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