We did it...

In 2011 I became a workout person.  I like to go to boot camp at 5:30am outside in a parking lot or parking garage (only if it is really raining or really cold of course).  The people I met that have kept me motivated make it that much more fun.  We work through the pain, the gain, the good times and bad and still show up for more. In August I started running - training for my first half marathon.  I completed that first one with one of my best friends in the rain and cold.  We were wet from the first step to the last but we did it and did it well.

The next half was the first leg of the New Years Double.  We had decided to do a 1/2 on the 31st and 5k on the 1st as we were pretty sure that pain would play a major role.  I had no idea how much of course.  Two weeks prior to the NYD, I did a hilly training run with my crew.  Nothing new for any of us and I felt great afterwards.  It wasn't until later when I was at the movies and couldn't get my knee to straighten without more pain than I ever felt that I realized something was wrong.

Now, a smart adult would take this as a sign to rest up and I did, I only did one more 4 mile run before the half.  I never said I was a smart adult.  I made it through the half - slower than my first one but yet still made it with minimal walking and got ice right after the race.  Immediately actually, it was comical how quickly I voluntarily got a huge bag of ice for my knee while standing outside during a sunny 45 degree day.

The next day, under penalty of bodily injury (I do love our running crew, we take better care of each other than we do ourselves and wouldn't make it a step without the support) I walked the 5k.  This was painful and I don't just mean literally.  Having started where I did in January (more than 20 pounds heavier and WAY out of shape and not just because I was coming off of a fractured foot) to running 1/2 marathons and working out 6 days a week and then having to walk 3 miles - I 'ran' the first 1/4 mile as well as I could and that was not smart but nothing was going to stop me - was not where I wanted to be.  I was there with the kiddo who once told me he hated running more than anything in the world and yet he was voluntarily running two 5ks and still at the finish line cheering for us.

I was having a big time internal pity party as I walked with a smile on my face until this one woman walked up next to me and said 'Hey, we might be walking but we are out here doing it and that is better than being on our couch!'.  You know what?  She was right.  We were out there walking in the beautiful weather because that is what we could do.   I walked for a while with another guy who was about to go in for knee surgery.  He ran the half the day before too and was paying the same price I was but we were out there walking with smiles and enjoying every minute of it.

Moral?  Yes, it stinks to train and not make a goal I set but this is a new year and I still have plenty of trails and asphalt to kick ahead of me!  So here we go 2012 - recover and take on the year.  You may be 'walking' through whatever it is you are doing right now, but at least you are taking steps and you will 'run' through it before you know it.    One foot in front of the other.

PS:  I am already thinking that the 2012/2013 New Year Double needs to be a 1/2 / 1/2 for me...how's that for a goal? (Yup, I have lost my mind)