A New Challenge

So I am injured.

While running the Hudson-Mohawk Half Marathon two weeks ago, I acquired some persistent pain in my left foot and right knee. I thought it would go away if I took it easy on the running for a few weeks after the race, but it's now two weeks later and I'm still in pain when I run. I shared this with our wonderful mentor, Norris, who advised me to go to the doctor, and get in touch with the TNT coaches. He also told me that the first thing the coaches would tell me was to stop running for 1-2 weeks.

I was not happy to hear this.

See, once you start running, you get pretty addicted to the feeling. I am not a biochemistry expert, but my understanding is that running causes your body to produce endorphins, which make you feel great. Well boy have I been feeling great these days! Sure, I feel good because I am raising money for an important cause, I'm meeting a lot of wonderful people, and I'm getting in good shape...but it's less a feeling of thoughtful satisfaction about meaningful endeavors and more like a "la-la-la I love life I feel WONDERFUL!" feeling.

When you stop running, even for a few days, you sure miss those endorphins. I mean, don't get me wrong, I feel fine. But fine feels more like crappy when you've had two months of "la-la-la-I love life WONDERFUL!"

So today I went to the group run, bringing my trusty canine companion, Stella, and just walked around a little bit. I was glad to be there, but it was sad to be on the outskirts of the activity, rather than in the middle of it.

And it's a little scary. I have 3 months, and I have hundreds of miles of training to put in before January 18th. I need to get better, and I need to get better quickly.

But maybe having this setback is part of the process. It was almost going a little too smoothly before. I was leaping up in mileage way before the training schedule called for it, and my speed was increasing significantly with each 5k race I entered. I was starting to think that this whole marathon training thing was going to be a piece of cake. And now I am back to reality.

TNT is based on the indisputable fact that training for a marathon is a huge challenge. That's why it justifies significant financial sponsorship from family and friends. That's why there are coaches, mentors, weekly group runs, clinics, and hundreds of miles of training.

And of course, a few aches and pains while training for a marathon are nothing compared to the ups and downs of going through treatment for cancer, but maybe this is a good reminder that setbacks are a part of every challenge that can and will be completed.