The sad day has finally come that I have to report an injury.\u00a0 On Sunday morning I was out for a run with my new beau.\u00a0 Yes, you read that right; Rambling Runner Girl has found a Rambling Runner Dude.\u00a0 He runs but he isn\u2019t into racing and he isn\u2019t nearly the rambler that I am.\u00a0 But who is?\u00a0 Let\u2019s face it, with me around, no one ever really stands a chance to get a word in. \u00a0And that\u2019s not me being my competitive self, that\u2019s just reality. Brian is my main squeeze.\u00a0\u00a0 He is good to me and he\u2019s good for me. \u00a0He grounds me.\u00a0 He reminds me that I don\u2019t need to go 90 mph all the time.\u00a0 He makes me laugh.\u00a0 And most importantly, he accepts me just as I am. \u00a0It only took us 30 years to talk to each other, since we went to school together when we were 9.\u00a0 Well, he was 9, I was 8, for a month.\u00a0 But who\u2019s counting?\u00a0 And how\u2019s that for patience?\u00a0 You know what they say, timing is everything.<\/p>\n
So, on Sunday, I wanted to show him one of my favorite places to run.\u00a0 We started at Al Foster and ran into Castlewood where we bumped into some of my usual running crew.\u00a0 But since I had to be at work by noon, we didn\u2019t have time to do the route they were running.\u00a0 We turned back and were making great time.\u00a0 Then I noticed a funny twinge in my left hamstring.\u00a0 Another step, hmmm, that\u2019s weird, it feels tight.\u00a0 Another step, I wonder if I should walk for a bit.\u00a0 Another step, POP. Ouch! \u00a0And we\u2019re walking.<\/p>\n
Anyone who has ever run with me knows that I don\u2019t like to walk.\u00a0 I may, at times, walk a tough hill to conserve energy, primarily during a race.\u00a0 At some point, you find your pace has slowed so much that walking is just as fast and doesn\u2019t expend the energy that running does.\u00a0 However, I am not at all fond of walking when I can run through the pain, nor am I fond of walking on a path as flat as Al Foster.\u00a0 However, the day had come that it was absolutely necessary.\u00a0 And so, we walked.\u00a0 Fortunately it was a beautiful day.\u00a0 A nice break from the extreme cold of this ridiculous polar vortex that keeps coming back around and hitting below the belt.\u00a0 We got in about 5 miles before my hammy issues, then we walked the 2.5ish miles back to the car.\u00a0 Our walk had set me back a little, but I still managed to get to work just a few minutes late.\u00a0 And then I proceeded to hobble around the store with a hamstring compression wrap on for the entirety of the day.\u00a0 Thank God for Ibuprofen.<\/p>\n
This injury is a reminder that, contrary to what I like to believe of myself, I am not invincible.\u00a0 It\u2019s been a while since I\u2019ve had an injury of this magnitude that has taken me out of the game.\u00a0 The game of running that is.\u00a0 But, if there is one thing I\u2019m good at, it\u2019s turning a negative into a positive.\u00a0 I have taken advantage of the fact that swimming is actually a really good way to rehab an injury like this.\u00a0 And who really wants to run outside when we are expecting a high of 11 degrees anyway?!<\/p>\n
Yesterday, I got up and put my swimsuit on, made my coffee, took some meds and headed to Crestview.\u00a0 I gingerly lowered myself into the pool, but the water felt great on my tight muscles.\u00a0 Having an injury makes everything tight.\u00a0 You compensate, you favor other muscles and ultimately everything is out of whack.\u00a0 My dad always said try to walk as normal as possible.\u00a0 But then again, if I\u2019d had a broken leg, he would have said, \u201cYou\u2019re fine, just walk it off\u201d.\u00a0 There is a reason I\u2019m as tough as I am.<\/p>\n
But yesterday wasn\u2019t just any day in the pool.\u00a0 Yesterday something unexpected happened.\u00a0 I had decided when I got in the pool, I was going for distance.\u00a0 I had plenty of time, so I was going to see how far I could make it, at a nice comfortable pace.\u00a0 As\u00a0a triathlete, we are commonly told to take the kick out of it anyway, but yesterday I had to.\u00a0 I thought about grabbing a pull float, but decided to fly without one.\u00a0 So, using only upper body, with my legs trailing along behind me, I went back and forth the length of the pool.\u00a0 After every 400 meters, I would throw in a hundred meters of backstroke and then back to freestyle.<\/p>\n
A couple weeks ago, Coach Andy had talked about \u201ckeeping a bullet in the holster\u201d.\u00a0 I asked what he meant.\u00a0 He was referring to using the push of one arm to propel the other arm, leading the way out in front, further through the water.\u00a0 He had frequently in the past mentioned that if I could leave that hand out in front a split second longer, I would begin to find my rhythm.<\/p>\n
And then, yesterday, it finally happened.\u00a0 Somewhere in the middle of the 3000 meters that I managed, I felt it.\u00a0 I was doing it.\u00a0 I was hanging that hand out there and pushing myself through the water.\u00a0 I finally felt the rhythm that is swimming.\u00a0 I found it.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m a runner.\u00a0 I\u2019m used to step left, step right, repeat.\u00a0 But with swimming, the alternating movement of the swim stroke doesn\u2019t look exactly like the rote movement of running.\u00a0 It\u2019s almost more of a dance.\u00a0 And yesterday, something clicked. \u00a0And once I
\nfelt it, I wanted to go faster.\u00a0 I loved the rhythmic feeling I was experiencing.\u00a0 It was soothing.\u00a0 And it was my reward for admitting all my fears, and failures, and shortcomings, but persevering in what I feared anyway.<\/p>\n
But isn\u2019t that so true, in general?\u00a0 When we admit the thing that is really scaring us, the thing that is holding us back, it doesn\u2019t have a grip on us anymore.\u00a0 Granted it took me a year to get here, but my efforts and sticking with it are finally paying off.\u00a0 Being \u201cin the wait\u201d is hard, you just have to be patient and persevere, but once you get there it\u2019s so worth it.<\/p>\n
Today I went back to the pool.\u00a0 This was the first time I have ever walked onto the deck of any pool and not felt like a complete amateur.\u00a0 I\u2019m still not the fastest one in the water, not even close, and I likely never will be.\u00a0 But I\u2019m not the slowest anymore either.\u00a0 Today, I didn\u2019t worry at all about my distance.\u00a0 In fact, I couldn\u2019t begin to tell you how far I went.\u00a0 I actually meant to bring my Garmin today so I wouldn\u2019t have to count, but I forgot it.\u00a0 Oh well, there will be other days for that.\u00a0 Today, I focused solely on technique.\u00a0 I just wanted to relax and swim and enjoy the rhythm.\u00a0 I earned that.<\/p>\n
Sometimes things just click. \u00a0They just come together.\u00a0 If you had told me a year ago where I would be right now, in so many aspects of my life, I wouldn\u2019t have believed it.\u00a0 But my patience and persistence paid off.\u00a0 Although sometimes it was hard to keep the faith, I never gave up hope.<\/p>\n
And so, I ask you, what is the thing you have been waiting to do?\u00a0 What has held you back? What are you afraid of? Fear of hurting?\u00a0 Fear of failure?\u00a0 Something else?\u00a0 For my friend, Dan, it was the same as me; swimming.\u00a0 While I was primarily afraid of not being good at something and looking like a fool, Dan is not at all comfortable with having his face underwater.\u00a0 Last year he wanted to sign up for the Racine Half Ironman that I did, but he let the swim thing get in the way.\u00a0 This year, I am happy to report, he has already registered for his first Half Ironman.\u00a0 He will be competing with me in Alton, IL at the Border Wars Half on October 5th<\/sup>, just 4 days after my birthday.\u00a0 My friend Ken has followed suite.\u00a0 He registered last night.\u00a0 And he still needs to buy a bike. Now I get to play the role of being the resource, the encourager, the mentor, the \u201cseasoned\u201d triathlete.\u00a0 I still find this really quite hilarious, but I vow to help my friends however I can, just as others have done, and continue to do, for me.\u00a0 I can think of no better birthday\u00a0gift than being present to witness the accomplishments of my friends.\u00a0 Followed by a trip to Fast Eddie\u2019s to celebrate.\u00a0 Of course.<\/p>\n So now the challenge is this:\u00a0 Step 1-Admit it.\u00a0 Acknowledge the thing that you want to do. Step 2-Try it. If you don\u2019t know where to start, find someone who does and ask for help.\u00a0 Trust me, I know how hard that is, do it anyway.\u00a0 Step 3-Stick with it for one year.\u00a0 And then see where it leads you.\u00a0 If you need to sign up for something before you feel completely ready, go ahead and do it.\u00a0 You know the saying, if you wait until you\u2019re \u201cready\u201d, you\u2019ll never do it.\u00a0 What are you waiting for?\u00a0 You never know what adventures are ahead of you, and what rewards they\u2019ll bring, until you do it.\u00a0 So take a leap of faith.\u00a0 Put yourself out there.\u00a0 And expect the unexpected.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The sad day has finally come that I have to report an injury.\u00a0 On Sunday morning I was out for a run with my new beau.\u00a0 Yes, you read that right; Rambling Runner Girl has found a Rambling Runner Dude.\u00a0 He runs but he isn\u2019t into racing and he isn\u2019t nearly the rambler that I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"aside","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-597","post","type-post","status-publish","format-aside","hentry","category-randomthoughts","post_format-post-format-aside"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4eO4v-9D","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ramblingrunnergirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/597","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ramblingrunnergirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ramblingrunnergirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ramblingrunnergirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ramblingrunnergirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=597"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/www.ramblingrunnergirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/597\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":603,"href":"http:\/\/www.ramblingrunnergirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/597\/revisions\/603"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ramblingrunnergirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ramblingrunnergirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ramblingrunnergirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}