If you are an avid Seinfeld watcher, such as I, you may remember the episode where Jason Alexander proclaimed the Summer of George.\u00a0 At the end of March, I declared that April would be the Summer of Lindsey.\u00a0\u00a0I had a fair amount on the calendar this month\u00a0so I decided that any stretch of time that I didn\u2019t have work, or kids, or whatever, was going to be about taking care of me.\u00a0 However, as April has worn on, somehow I inadvertently defaulted to my people pleasing ways and have tried to be all things to all people, which has left me in a somewhat stressed and miserable state as I\u2019ve felt that I just can\u2019t measure up.\u00a0 All of this eventually led me to throw a rather large pity party for myself as I started to wonder \u201cBut who\u2019s going to take care of ME?!\u201d\u00a0 Ok, I\u2019ll stop my whining.\u00a0 For now.\u00a0 Needless to say, April has not gone according to plan.\u00a0 It has not been the Summer of Lindsey, but more like the Summer of Stress.\u00a0 And it\u2019s not even summer, it\u2019s still flipping cold!<\/p>\n
Through the course of the week, I\u2019ve been managing to get through all the activities, the projects, the child-care debacles, and working my way through that list. I even threw a trip to the clinic into the mix to\u00a0get some antibiotics.\u00a0 Sometime during the week, I think it was on Tuesday, I recall seeing a Facebook status update by my friend, Luke Hoffman that read, \u201cJust going to go for a run. \u00a0That fixes everything, right?\u201d Well, running can\u2019t exactly pay the bills\u2026or, I guess in my case it sort of can, but it can\u2019t sit down and actually write the checks, which was one of the things on my very long list.\u00a0 But Luke has a point.\u00a0 Just like every other runner I know, whenever I start feeling overwhelmed and stressed, I need my daily dose of endorphins.\u00a0 So, Tuesday night, I went out for a run\u2026in the rain.\u00a0 It was a cold, but puddle-stomping good time with friends.\u00a0 We were soaked to the skin.\u00a0 That was supposed to fix everything, but instead, now here I sit, still fighting a sinus infection with a marathon only 8 days away.\u00a0 Maybe that wasn\u2019t the best idea.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, I lead the social run.\u00a0 I started out with Gerry, who was chugging along at my laboriously slow pace (You need to understand, this guy is fast.\u00a0 I mean really fast.\u00a0 So for him to run my pace under any circumstances is painful.)\u00a0 I told him that I was sick and slow, so he didn\u2019t need to hang with me.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t.\u00a0 He took off and soon he was nothing more than a dot to me.\u00a0 But as runners, we all understand the need to run our own pace.\u00a0 As I ran, I started to feel surprisingly better.\u00a0 I picked up my pace.\u00a0 I got faster.\u00a0 I negative split.\u00a0 And by the time all was said and done, what started as an 8:40\/mi pace, ended up with my last mile at a 7:20.\u00a0 Over my 5 miles, I averaged about 8:00\/mi and I felt good.\u00a0 Really good.\u00a0 But about an hour later, I was exhausted.\u00a0 I had used up all I had.\u00a0 I think it\u2019s pretty clear my body is telling me to take it easy and rest up for next weekend.<\/p>\n
So, today, I decided to “take it easy” with a nice bike ride at Forest Park with my friend Nikki.\u00a0 After work, we kicked off the weekend with a couple loops around the park.\u00a0 It was chilly, but it was a good ride and nice way to give my joints a break.\u00a0 Or so I thought.\u00a0 Until we were cruising down Skinker, going along at a pretty good clip and then out of nowhere I had a totally epic wipeout.\u00a0 It was an impressive display. Seriously, it was stunningly beautiful. \u00a0I don\u2019t think anyone could re-enact it if they tried.\u00a0 It happened so fast, that neither one of us saw it coming.\u00a0 Just as it started to happen, I had exactly enough time to realize I was going down.\u00a0 Fast.\u00a0 And I could do it up ahead where there was gravel and asphalt.\u00a0 Or I could do it right where I was, in the grass.\u00a0 And at precisely that second, I hit the ground.\u00a0 As soon as the shock wore off, I happily realized that nothing was broken, or at least nothing that I need to run a marathon next week. I briefly considered the possibility that I had dislocated a finger, but since I\u2019m able to type with just minimal pain, I think it\u2019s probably only a mild sprain. Then, I spent the next several minutes lying on the ground laughing hysterically. \u00a0Ya know when you\u2019re laughing so hard that no sound is coming out?\u00a0 Yeah, like that.\u00a0 If you can\u2019t laugh at yourself, what can you really do?\u00a0 And I\u2019m quite sure anyone who happened to be on Skinker Avenue at approximately 5:40pm today, is probably still telling the story of what they witnessed.<\/p>\n
Life is the same way, isn\u2019t it?\u00a0 We can be skipping right along thinking everything is hunky dory, and then suddenly we\u2019re screaming, \u201cMayday! Mayday!\u00a0 Man down!\u201d\u00a0 This week humbled me.\u00a0 I was slapped in the face with how hard it is to be a working, single mom who trains for endurance sports and doesn\u2019t like to let people down.\u00a0 I\u2019ve taken on too much and I\u2019ve started to slip.\u00a0 The quality in my performance is lacking because I\u2019ve got too much running through my brain.<\/p>\n
But that\u2019s what is so great about my AITA tumble this afternoon.\u00a0 I was going along, too fast, not paying attention, but when catastrophe struck\u00a0 I was able to laugh about it and then pick myself up and keep right on going.\u00a0 Granted I had to dislodge about a square foot of soil from my cycling shoes first, but the point is, I got right back in the saddle.\u00a0 But I slowed down and started thinking about the good things that came out of this week.\u00a0 Quality time with my kids.\u00a0 Running with friends.\u00a0 A laugh with Nikki that has now bonded us forever since she was the one and only person who will be able to use her eye-witness account of what occurred today to keep me grounded when I get too cocky.<\/p>\n
Sometimes life just hands you a good old-fashioned face plant.\u00a0 So, what are you gonna do about it?<\/p>\n
As for me, I think for the next week I\u2019ll stick to running.\u00a0 Cause just like Luke said, that fixes everything.\u00a0 Or, at least it will hopefully keep me from stitches, broken bones and potential hospitalization until I get through this marathon.<\/p>\n
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