The continued prayer is, “Lord keep me focused. Keep my mind stayed on You. Help me to bring You praise. I know You believe in me. Please help me in my unbelief. Amen.”
You may recall that the last time I posted, I’d had a TERRIBLE time with Race Pace, the running club I joined with my friend, Lisa. That's Lisa in the pink!
The following week, I met with her to run the same route. This time I knew the hills were coming and while I knew they were a foeman worthy of my steel, I was ready to take ‘em on. The whole time I was running the hill, the mantra “I will NOT be your bitch! I will NOT be your bitch!” was blaring through my mind. I thought I had it!!
Then “I Want You Back” by The Jackson 5 came across my iPod and I *knew* I had it!!! Not only did I know that the top of the hill was near, that song always gets me pumped! So I did a body check and my body said “GO GET IT GIRL!” so I shifted into high gear and sprinted for the top!
It felt GREAT!!!
The run back down was all joy.
This just goes to show how running really is a mental thing. The first time I ran that hill, I let it beat me before I started. I’ve done that in races before too. I’ll get a look at the course map and see the hills and I just let it take me down. I always think, “I need to conserve. Hills are coming”.
But the thing about hills is that they want you to run ‘em and the thing about your body is that it *wants* to run ‘em too!!! It really does!
The following week, I met with Race Pace again and we ran a different route. It was crazy hilly too. It was about a 6.5 mile route and the hills started at about the 4.75 mile mark. If this sounds cruel and usual, I assure you, it is! It was a hill near my office and one I’d run many times before, but never after having already run 4.5 miles!! So again, I let this get into my head.
I thought, “Take it easy. Keep it comfortable… Cuz when you get to that hill it’s going to wring you out like an old dish rag!” And it did.
Lisa took it like a champ! And Mike, who was assigned to bringing up the rear, was really cool about keeping us in his line of vision. He greeted the hill like an old friend. Neither of them were lightning-fast when it came to the hill but they ran it like they were in charge. I gotta learn the knack of that. I tend to get really insecure when I don’t know a route.
I finished strong and in decent time, but I was convinced that I could do it better. I couldn’t wait to run that one again! Just so I could show myself that I had it in me!!!
I knew the next weekend was going to be my chance to make it up to myself. But….
For months, I’ve been struggling with shoulder impingement issues. I’ve been trying to ignore it in the hopes that it would just go away. I’d been taking it easy and just trying to stretch it and maintain my range of motion. Then one night, I decided to do some strength training. One session of treadmill sprint intervals and curls was enough to send me to the doctor’s office.
He confirmed that it was indeed Shoulder Impingement and told me that I’d likely have to see a specialist for a Cortisone shot and another one for a few rounds of Physical Therapy. Damn.
The only times I’ve willingly gone to the doctor (other than annual check-ups) are when I was passing a kidney stone, in labor, and when I seriously thought I was having a heart attack. Turned out the diet pills I had been (stupidly) taking were raising my heart rate to a dangerous level.
So when I woke up early on Sunday morning to meet Race Pace and conquer this hill, I was distressed, but not surprised, to find that I couldn’t move my shoulder without sever pain. I’d had trouble sleeping because the pain was so intense and stabilizing your shoulder while you’re running is very awkward indeed.
So I reluctantly texted Lisa and let her know not to worry about me but not to look for me because I wouldn’t be there. It was 6am and for the next hour and a half, I was fuming over those lucky bastards who were being bested by that hill run! Damn! I wanted to be out there too!!
But the day was too awesome and too drizzly. I just had to get out there, even for a little while. So after spending the day with my family and hanging out with a good friend, I took a fist full of Ibuprofen, laced up and headed for the hills.
There is a pretty substantial hill about a mile from my front door. It runs up into one of those posh, Mercedes-driving neighborhoods. I really like it. The sidewalks are smooth and wide and always well lit. So I cranked up some Eminem and hit the road.
It was wet and crispy but none of that mattered. The hardest part was keeping my shoulder stable but even that couldn’t rob me of the joy I felt to be out in the rain, conquering that hill. It was great.
And even though I was mad at Race Pace for being awesome and making me feel less than awesome, I couldn’t help noticing that even though I wasn’t tearing up that hill like a wild thing, I was running it. Running it without stopping!!! I had *never* done that before! And I owe it all to Race Pace.
So rain or shine, Shoulder Impingement or not, I will be out there next weekend running the hills with Race Pace. Thanks, guys! I *love* you!!!
On To The Run
November 13th, 2012 – 3.06 Miles - Treadmill
November 18th, 2012 – 7.06 Miles – w/Lisa, Race Pace Route, Hilly
November 20th, 2012 – 3.25 Miles – Treadmill
November 23rd , 2012 – 4.09 Miles – Outside, Windy, Kids met me on the driveway. Awesome!
November 25th, 2012 – 6.49 Miles – Race Pace, Hilly
November 29th, 2012 – 3.25 Miles – Treadmill
November 30th, 2012 – 2.75 Miles – Treadmill
December 1st, 2012 – 3.73 Miles – Outside. Rainy, SO Nice
December 2nd, 2012 – 2.75 Miles – Outside. Rainy. Hilly. SOOO Awesome!
By the way, I joined another cyber-running group called “I Would Run 500 Miles” and at the time, I was really behind so I was pretty sure I couldn’t commit to 500 miles for 2012 but I might be able to do 400. However, on around November 28th, I realized I had hit and passed 400 miles and if I ran at least 2.5 miles every day for the rest of the year, I could hit 500 miles! So that’s the new plan.
I’ll keep you posted!!!
