Moving On

To say I've had writer's block...that I've been too busy to post...that I've been shamefully avoiding explaining why has been at my fingertips often but never typed out in the past six months.

So here it is; I have been all of those things and now it's time to move on & let the beautiful journey continue. Before I do here is somewhat of an update or explanation (if you will) of what's gone on, I don't want to forget.

When training for a 100 mile ultra or any endurance event you learn well how to accept a certain degree of pain or discomfort, nudge it to the back of your mind & push onward. July 8th was one of the most enjoyable long-runs I'd ever had, but at miles 6, 8 and 22 something was starting to go wrong in my right foot/ankle. The next week I dropped over 8lbs. with a stomach flu, tried to focus on being thankful for the time in bed to allow my foot to recover without worrying about the missed work & training. The week after I thought I was back to normal...I wasn't.

When you have to take off your shoe 15 miles into a trail run to stretch the tendons over a rock to relieve the pain, you know without question that something has definitely gone awry. While I came away from that run with a lot of great memories, during it I really hurt & felt generally unwell. I wouldn't run on trail again for another 80 days.

Weeks passed instead of miles. Injury & illness persisted. Race plans were forced to change. I handled it gracefully, I handled it horribly. Every emotion possible was felt with the longest lingering being guilt & shame over the fact that I was injured.

Work in the following months was a blessing and a curse. It kept me distracted from the fact that I was unable to run, but also became a good excuse to avoid those I had spent countless hours training with. Thanks again to my Beloved & crew for sticking by me. I have no disillusions of how difficult I must have been to tolerate in this time.

Eventually I started to accept things & began setting other goals. Instead of running Lean Horse, I crewed three of my close friends there.

After 30+ sleepless hours crewing I joined Maggie as a pacer on the bittersweet Argyle road. The pain tried to swallow her whole those final 12 miles, but she fought hard and made it to the finish. This wasn't the experience I had spent months dreaming about, yet it was equally as valuable. I discovered that I'm actually very skilled at crewing & my militant side makes me a talented pacer.

I came away from that event with renewed courage to fight to get back to running and I haven't stopped since. In the process of keeping my activity & cardio levels up I fell head-over-heels with Brazilian jiu-jitsu & cycling all over again.

I plan on competing in my first Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu/Submission Grappling tournament in April.

A few months ago I tromped thru the mud with a few friends at one of the dirtiest trail "races" around. Who says you can only wear your wedding dress once? Since then running has ever so slowly started to come back to me again. Praise God! What the Docs have labeled tendonitis still causes me discomfort on a weekly (sometimes daily) basis,but I am now able to run without notable pain as long as I am in minimalist footwear. So I am also making the transition to that style of running, so far so good!

What's in store for my 2011 race season is really a blank slate. I have a few ideas & hopes, but my motto for this season remains the same for the next, "In His Time". It's all an adventure!

"Give thanks in all things;" 1 Thessalonians 5:18