Timely Encouragement

Saturday’s 10 mile run was challenging. The first 8 miles were fine considering I’d done it before. Even mile 9 was reasonably manageable. But that 10th mile . . . ugh. There was no feeling of “I could have just kept on going!” after this run. Then I had the joy of icing my legs for 20 minutes at home afterward. The entire rest of the day I was sore and exhausted. Sunday morning I was still walking stiffly and struggling to go up or down stairs.

I started to get pretty concerned. Maybe I didn’t train well enough or correctly the previous week. If I can barely squeak through 10 miles and then pay dearly with soreness, will I ever really be able to survive this 26.2 thing? Did I hit a wall that I won't ever be able to get past?

Sunday afternoon we took an easy relaxing bike ride around the neighborhood which felt good, but still the soreness lingered afterward. Monday morning I was nowhere near the energy and excitement level I’d had the last time I ran with Alicia. I slogged through the abbreviated morning run and hobbled up the stairs to the shower afterward.

Then today, our team’s running coach, Mike, sent out an email that was just what I needed to hear. Here are some tidbits:

"Wow! We're very proud of all y'all for how well you are doing in the training. More importantly, you should be very proud of yourselves.

As we get into longer times on the road, many of us have concerns and questions about our progress. One of the concerns is "How in the world am I going to be able to be out there for 4 to 6 hours, or more, when I'm barely able to make it 2 hours?

This question enters everyone's mind at some point of the training. No worries, mate. I've been watching all of you, and believe me, "you look maahvelous!"

Approximately every other week, we're increasing the time we spend on the road by 30 to 60 minutes. Should your muscles be sore? Of course. Expect them to be sore, plan for them to be sore, look forward to them being sore. This kind of pain is weakness leaving the body. Muscle soreness is a result of working the muscles more than they're used to. The muscles rebuild, stronger, over the next day or two of rest and recovery. Active rest the next day helps prevent you from stiffening up and keeps blood flowing to the muscles so they get the nutrients they need. The harder you work now, the more fun you'll have during your event. 4-5 hrs of fun vs. 6-8 hrs of misery; you choose (that's for runners, walkers extrapolate).

I have no doubt that each of you is capable of accomplishing your goal and completing your event. You're reaching levels of fitness that you may not have ever had before in your life. You are becoming stronger, in body and mind. Believe it."

I’ll tell ya, there would be no making it through this without my mentors, coaches and teammates. This program has benefited me both physically and emotionally. Right now I AM at a level of fitness and achievement that I never would have even dreamed I could reach. And I’ve been able to cope with losing my mom by turning that loss into something positive for others. What a blessing this whole experience has been so far with all its ups and downs, exhilarations and pains, victories and struggles.