I bet I had you all fooled, huh? I certainly had myself fooled. I thought I was going to be working locally for a few months, but then the stock markets began a deeper slide and companies began scaling things back and before you know it, NYC isn't such a hot market for consulting gigs. Next stop, Memphis Tennessee.
It's funny... I have such mixed reactions to all the travel. On the one hand, if you've read this blog long enough, you will remember that I hate to fly. Hate it. White knuckles and all that. Along came a very wee dose of xanax and flying has done a 180 degree shift for me. So 2 and sometimes 4 flights a week is totally manageable now. But in my heart I know I don't like it still. And living out of hotels can really suck. Especially for me being vegetarian and all. Marathon training while splitting my time between a hotel and home should be interesting... while I started my training that way, this last month and a half not travelling has been the bulk of the nasty part of the training and its going to get longer and harder from here. So it should be interesting to see how it shakes out.
On the other hand, I love getting to know so many other cities and towns as though I live there. Visting is one thing, grocery shopping is another, you know? I wind up at local fitness centers, local supermarkets, you name it. It becomes a second home when I am there for a few months. I can never imagine myself living outside NYC, but just for a while its fun to experience how the rest of the world does it. I had gotten rusty on it. It makes me appreciate my home and my lifestyle, and even the compromises we city folk make for that lifestyle, all the more. I also love that all this travel enables me to have opportunities I wouldn't otherwise have. All the frequent flyer miles, the hotel points and credit card points opens up chances for me to do some fun travel at very little cost. It's hard to beat that perk, if you think about it.
But as I said before, it should be interesting to see how it all shakes out. Marathon training on the road will be a challenge for sure. So yeah... the next few weeks should be a little mixed up around these parts. I am starting on the 18th, it seems, so I have one more week to really get myself grounded into all of this.
Back to the training front... let's see. I left you with a note that I needed to spend Tuesday night doing PT. I did. My butt was sore the next day from it. Truth is, I do PT better on the road because I have not much else to do in the evenings but work out... its not like being home where you have all your stuff and all your friends to be distractions. But Tuesday I rallied and did my PT and it was good but I could tell I haven't been doing it as much as I needed to. Yesterday was my sleep in day but I went to Marisa's yoga class last night. She kicked my butt hardcore. I have gotten really addicted to her Wednesday night class, so that will be tough to give up too... but we'll just do more when I am home. I've gotten spoilt and the regularity of my going is finally starting to show, which is nice. I am going to try and get her to record some lessons for me... both for sampling for her website as well as for helping me keep it up on the road. Anyhoo... this morning I did another 4 miles. Its been nice having a run buddy for the mornings and I am really bummed to lose that again, but for the time I have someone to run with its been really awesome. My knee is still a little wonky. But I think its better... it was probably good that I didn't go crazy last weekend with the long run. I think a week off of the distance was a good idea.
Tonight is more PT work. And with any luck tomorrow I will be able to get in a little cross-training. I am starting to miss my bike like crazy... so I might have to get out on it... hopefully this weird warm weather thing we are doing will hold up another day.
So that's all I got for now. More soon. Happy Thursday.
Thursday, February 07, 2008
Monday, February 04, 2008
A Lesson in Perseverance
It's funny how 2 steps forward, one step back this whole training thing is. Maybe its what makes it so cathartic to begin with. Progress is never linear. It's hard fought. And the only real question is how much are you willing to fight?
I tend towards the philosophic over here when I am truly on my game and living out the very essence of JC. Lately, just 'cause I've been so busy, I've tended less towards the philosophy and more towards the list of what I've done. No so today, my friends. Today I am feeling philosophic again. I get that way when things start to slip, I guess. It's part of keeping myself on track.
So I left you with the 14.36 miler that fell apart just over a week ago. And I left you on the note that I was heading back out on Thursday to see where things stood. So I did my usual 4.6 mile loop and towards the end, I could feel my knee acting up again. It didn't really affect my run, but knowing that at under 5 miles things are starting to get dicey is not a confidence builder for the 26.2 dealio looming large. Friday I wound up having to be in the office and going to a client meeting, so I wound up in my usual work heels for the day. (don't worry... I don't get too girly...) By the end of Friday my right soleus muscle (or what I think is my soleus muscle...) was sore. Great. As it was I knew my Sunday run was going to be backed way off and I thought it would be a good time to do my Brooklyn Bridge run. Get in a nice 7-8 miles and see if I can shake some of the cobwebs out. But honestly, I could just tell it was off on Sunday morning before I even left the house. And that is never a good feeling.
So there I am thinking I need to get some miles in, but knowing I need to live to fight another day and running hard isn't going to make things better. In fact, if I play worst case scenario, its not my soleus muscle at all... its the beginning of a stress fracture. Truth is, I don't want the answer just yet. I'm covering my ears and yelling LALALALALA and totally not dealing with it. So keeping my expectations in check, I headed reluctantly out the door. And off I went. In the end I pulled out 5.8 miles and my time was actually faster than it has been lately, but there was that nagging irritation in my "soleus muscle." Damn. I don't really know what to do about it. My right leg is a mess. Knee all wonky, whatever this thing is starting to get irritating. And there is a part of me that just wants to throw in the towel. But I won't. Cause I can't. It's what I have to do and I need to find a way to make this happen.
If I think back to where I was a year ago... I was broken. And the truth is, though it fell apart a week ago, my long run fell apart at mile 12. Mile 12. That's a huge comeback. Forget that its slow, I am a 34 year old reformed couch cushion coming back from injury. It's been a huge 2 steps forward. Then I had that big old injury step back, and now I am at 12 freaking miles! So why do I keep losing sight of this?!
Every now and again, I go back over this blog and remember where things were, which helps me keep some perspective on where things are. This time I went back to December 2005, as I was preparing for what would be my longest run to date... a 10 miler. I didn't realize when I went back there what I was going to read... I just wanted to see my quote again... the Elizabeth Kubler Ross one that reads:
"People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within."
I've been keenly aware of that feeling of the darkness of this process lately. It's hard not to have it feel so dark when it seems like every run is a battle to get my body back on track without forcing it where its not ready to be. That darkness gets my head really clouded with doubt and disbelief. I come home and Marisa waits to see from the reaction on my face how it went, and lately, she can tell right quick that it didn't go as I had hoped. So I guess I am starting to think its time to stop "hoping" and time to just start "being" again. When you hope, its all about thinking of that darkness and thinking of how you are going to find your way out of it. When you just "be" its more about taking what you got in you and letting it do its thing. It's that light within. And I need to refind it. I need to just be with it and let things unfold. So far it hasn't led me astray, right?
Tonight I have to do some PT work and tomorrow I will get in a few more miles and go from there. It's also looking like I may be back on the road afterall in the next few weeks, so I am trying to figure all that good stuff out. But in the meantime, I am just gonna do what I got to do and have some fun with it. I'm going with the flow of things and having some faith that my 2 steps forward are gonna be an awesome ride.
Happy Monday, all.
I tend towards the philosophic over here when I am truly on my game and living out the very essence of JC. Lately, just 'cause I've been so busy, I've tended less towards the philosophy and more towards the list of what I've done. No so today, my friends. Today I am feeling philosophic again. I get that way when things start to slip, I guess. It's part of keeping myself on track.
So I left you with the 14.36 miler that fell apart just over a week ago. And I left you on the note that I was heading back out on Thursday to see where things stood. So I did my usual 4.6 mile loop and towards the end, I could feel my knee acting up again. It didn't really affect my run, but knowing that at under 5 miles things are starting to get dicey is not a confidence builder for the 26.2 dealio looming large. Friday I wound up having to be in the office and going to a client meeting, so I wound up in my usual work heels for the day. (don't worry... I don't get too girly...) By the end of Friday my right soleus muscle (or what I think is my soleus muscle...) was sore. Great. As it was I knew my Sunday run was going to be backed way off and I thought it would be a good time to do my Brooklyn Bridge run. Get in a nice 7-8 miles and see if I can shake some of the cobwebs out. But honestly, I could just tell it was off on Sunday morning before I even left the house. And that is never a good feeling.
So there I am thinking I need to get some miles in, but knowing I need to live to fight another day and running hard isn't going to make things better. In fact, if I play worst case scenario, its not my soleus muscle at all... its the beginning of a stress fracture. Truth is, I don't want the answer just yet. I'm covering my ears and yelling LALALALALA and totally not dealing with it. So keeping my expectations in check, I headed reluctantly out the door. And off I went. In the end I pulled out 5.8 miles and my time was actually faster than it has been lately, but there was that nagging irritation in my "soleus muscle." Damn. I don't really know what to do about it. My right leg is a mess. Knee all wonky, whatever this thing is starting to get irritating. And there is a part of me that just wants to throw in the towel. But I won't. Cause I can't. It's what I have to do and I need to find a way to make this happen.
If I think back to where I was a year ago... I was broken. And the truth is, though it fell apart a week ago, my long run fell apart at mile 12. Mile 12. That's a huge comeback. Forget that its slow, I am a 34 year old reformed couch cushion coming back from injury. It's been a huge 2 steps forward. Then I had that big old injury step back, and now I am at 12 freaking miles! So why do I keep losing sight of this?!
Every now and again, I go back over this blog and remember where things were, which helps me keep some perspective on where things are. This time I went back to December 2005, as I was preparing for what would be my longest run to date... a 10 miler. I didn't realize when I went back there what I was going to read... I just wanted to see my quote again... the Elizabeth Kubler Ross one that reads:
"People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within."
I've been keenly aware of that feeling of the darkness of this process lately. It's hard not to have it feel so dark when it seems like every run is a battle to get my body back on track without forcing it where its not ready to be. That darkness gets my head really clouded with doubt and disbelief. I come home and Marisa waits to see from the reaction on my face how it went, and lately, she can tell right quick that it didn't go as I had hoped. So I guess I am starting to think its time to stop "hoping" and time to just start "being" again. When you hope, its all about thinking of that darkness and thinking of how you are going to find your way out of it. When you just "be" its more about taking what you got in you and letting it do its thing. It's that light within. And I need to refind it. I need to just be with it and let things unfold. So far it hasn't led me astray, right?
Tonight I have to do some PT work and tomorrow I will get in a few more miles and go from there. It's also looking like I may be back on the road afterall in the next few weeks, so I am trying to figure all that good stuff out. But in the meantime, I am just gonna do what I got to do and have some fun with it. I'm going with the flow of things and having some faith that my 2 steps forward are gonna be an awesome ride.
Happy Monday, all.
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