Setbacks

I'm sick and tired.

Literally. The past couple of months, I've been dealing with a nagging calf pain. I tried running through it, but it seemed to come back with a vengeance so I broke down and booked an appointment with my physio. I was very relieved to hear him say I had a build up of fluid and I'd need to stop running for a few days and RICE it. I was anticipating a longer downtime, but a few days... no problem.

So I was going to take a bit of time off, but even as I started my rest, I felt a cough coming on. The cough became a cold, which became body aches, stuffy nose, and to top it off, my lower back is hurting so much that it's preventing me sleeping.

It's the Tuesday before the Historic Half Marathon. I'm more sick than healthy. My body hurts, so much so that I had to ask my girls to stop when we walked back home today so I could catch my breath. Not the stuff of PBs.

It'll be 3 weeks since I have been able to run. I had a great taper planned, based on some new strategy. I'm a little saddened, that I won't be able to run the race of my life, but having said that, I am determined that I'l go out and race the best that I can do.

The Olympics are a treat to watch... especially since it's going on in our backyard. Jenn Heil was the picture of class. Many favoured her to win Gold for the Women's freestyle. She had a great run but finished in second. After the race, the CTV reporter asked how she felt losing the Gold, she replied that she won the Silver. She went on to say how she was boosted by the fan support. In short, just a great athlete and role-model.

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I am back from racing the Historic Half... PB all the way!! :)

I went out at a conservative pace and slowly chipped away and finished my first Half at sub 1:50, heck, it was a sub 1:49 at 1:48:42. I'm happy. I'm happy I put myself out there and risked a non-spectacular run.

I'll end with another quote:

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy." MLK Jr

My Secret

While out for a run, I was talking with my buddy about a book, The Secret. The Secret is, if you want something enough, you'll get it. She mentioned that she knows someone who was very disappointed when she wanted/wished for something, but it didn't come to fruition.

Really!?!

How can someone really believe you can wish for something, and it happens? That'd be like a Disney fairy tale... go to bed and find your Prince Charming. It's not wishing that makes something come true, it's the changes in yourself that allows for new things to happen. Life doesn't happen to you, you need to make life happen. You open yourself up to changes that lead to a positive affect, some can be subtle, some needs to be drastic.

In the last year, I've been focussed on doing Boston. I don't have a secret. If there is one, I don't know about it. But after years of floundering, I've now completed runs that awhile ago, I would have wished I could have, but I'm doing them through hard work, pain, and suffering.

In the past year, I've turned to healthier eating. Lost ten pounds (on top of the 14 I had lost a couple years earlier). I started attending yoga regularly to work on my core. But, probably the most significant change has been taking part in JH's clinic. Before, I thought I was pushing myself, but the interval training we do has taught me I need and can dig a lot deeper.

So yeah, I guess that's the secret, dig deep.