On Saturday Troy and Amanda ran the Michael Alleman 5K with me. Michael was killed in Iraq in February, all proceeds went to his wife and children.
Troy and Amanda both did great especially since Troy hadn't trained and Amanda just had a baby. Troy came in 13th place and I'm guessing there was over 150 runners.
I'm going to do something I NEVER do to save me some typing and post an entry from my journal. Don't worry, it's not too personal...
April 19, 2009
Taking Time To Heal?
Friday afternoon my foot started hurting me. I figured it must have been the crappy, flat, hard shoes I was wearing. It felt similar to the way my feet felt after walking around New York for days in nothing but flip-flops, but possibly could have been from my run the night before.
My hurting foot made me nervous about Saturday’s race. This was something I had looks forward to so I just hoped that a good nights sleep would heal my foot.
I didn’t sleep much Saturday night... Not because of the race. I just didn't sleep good. When I woke up Saturday morning I was nervous to take that first step as I got out of bed. My foot seamed to be feeling a little better, but definitely not healed.
I tried on a couple of different shoes and wore the ones that caused the least amount of pain.
When we arrived at the race I tried a few short runs to see if I would actually be able to run on my foot. To my surprise there was a small amount of discomfort, but I could run. The pain wasn’t bad enough to stop me from running.
When running a race I hope that I can be calm and just run like I run any other day, but I can’t. When I hear the gun shot there is something different inside of me – some feeling similar to adrenalin, but it’s not adrenalin. It’s a feeling of competitiveness like I have something to prove. I believe this feeling is what makes races so hard for me. When I run for fun I like it, but in a race I feel like I’m running to get to the end. It’s like I just want to get to the finish line. I try to keep my mind deep in thought as my feet pound the asphalt. In this particular run there was a few times that I had to keep my mind off the discomfort in my foot.
When I near the finish line, that is when my body fills with adrenalin. Sometime during the race an older man had passed me and I could see him several yards in front of me. I began sprinting and told myself I was going to pass that man. I passed to the right of him and crossed what I thought was the finish line, only to see a volunteer telling me to come this way. I had crossed the finish line on the right side of the road and had to turn around and go back through the ribbons on the left side of the road, adding what felt like 10 seconds to my time and letting the older man cross the ‘actual’ finish line before me.
When I saw my time I was actually surprised. I had finished in about 25 minutes, not a great time, but a personal best for me. It must be that competitiveness I talked about earlier.
Weird that I could run a 5k on my foot, but all of the sudden I could hardly walk on it anymore. The pain worsened throughout the day and I am now hopping around and trying to stay off of it.
I can’t help, but compare this race to my life. I like to run on the right side of the road, it feels natural to me, but sometimes running on the left side of the road is what gets you to the finish line. Sometimes we get hurt and if we don’t take time to heal or sit out once in a while the outcome will be worse. However, sitting out doesn’t break records.
Troy and Amanda both did great especially since Troy hadn't trained and Amanda just had a baby. Troy came in 13th place and I'm guessing there was over 150 runners.
I'm going to do something I NEVER do to save me some typing and post an entry from my journal. Don't worry, it's not too personal...
April 19, 2009
Taking Time To Heal?
Friday afternoon my foot started hurting me. I figured it must have been the crappy, flat, hard shoes I was wearing. It felt similar to the way my feet felt after walking around New York for days in nothing but flip-flops, but possibly could have been from my run the night before.
My hurting foot made me nervous about Saturday’s race. This was something I had looks forward to so I just hoped that a good nights sleep would heal my foot.
I didn’t sleep much Saturday night... Not because of the race. I just didn't sleep good. When I woke up Saturday morning I was nervous to take that first step as I got out of bed. My foot seamed to be feeling a little better, but definitely not healed.
I tried on a couple of different shoes and wore the ones that caused the least amount of pain.
When we arrived at the race I tried a few short runs to see if I would actually be able to run on my foot. To my surprise there was a small amount of discomfort, but I could run. The pain wasn’t bad enough to stop me from running.
When running a race I hope that I can be calm and just run like I run any other day, but I can’t. When I hear the gun shot there is something different inside of me – some feeling similar to adrenalin, but it’s not adrenalin. It’s a feeling of competitiveness like I have something to prove. I believe this feeling is what makes races so hard for me. When I run for fun I like it, but in a race I feel like I’m running to get to the end. It’s like I just want to get to the finish line. I try to keep my mind deep in thought as my feet pound the asphalt. In this particular run there was a few times that I had to keep my mind off the discomfort in my foot.
When I near the finish line, that is when my body fills with adrenalin. Sometime during the race an older man had passed me and I could see him several yards in front of me. I began sprinting and told myself I was going to pass that man. I passed to the right of him and crossed what I thought was the finish line, only to see a volunteer telling me to come this way. I had crossed the finish line on the right side of the road and had to turn around and go back through the ribbons on the left side of the road, adding what felt like 10 seconds to my time and letting the older man cross the ‘actual’ finish line before me.
When I saw my time I was actually surprised. I had finished in about 25 minutes, not a great time, but a personal best for me. It must be that competitiveness I talked about earlier.
Weird that I could run a 5k on my foot, but all of the sudden I could hardly walk on it anymore. The pain worsened throughout the day and I am now hopping around and trying to stay off of it.
I can’t help, but compare this race to my life. I like to run on the right side of the road, it feels natural to me, but sometimes running on the left side of the road is what gets you to the finish line. Sometimes we get hurt and if we don’t take time to heal or sit out once in a while the outcome will be worse. However, sitting out doesn’t break records.
2 comments:
hope your foot is feeling better! I am just so impressed that you are a runner! I liked to run for a time and then when I got married (a hundred years ago) it went away.
Shelley, I'm going to beat you. 1. You didn't tell me you were doing this and 2. You did this on your hurt foot. I'm way glad you did a 5k and think that is awesome, but how's your foot? We're not training tomorrow if it is still hurting. Be careful. I want you getting better even if it means sitting the sidelines for a bit. (Oh, maybe this is why you didn't tell me.)
And the thing about feeling competitive and adrenaline in a race compared to a regular run...I know, funny how it works. Even if it is the same course you've run and trained on, race day makes it completely different. Good job though, and maybe you're right about the shoes. Before you buy any, let's talk shoe talk. I a few pointers that might help when shopping.
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