To my faithful readers, Julie and Tim (and anyone else who happens to drop in from time to time), welcome back! After a thirteen week hiatus due to a metatarsal stress fracture and related recovery time, I am back in my running shoes! Exactly thirteen weeks to the day after my injury, I rounded up my favorite border collie and headed out for a two-mile run/walk, with two minute running intervals followed by five minute walk intervals. And I couldn't have picked a better day for running. Sunny, slightly breezy, absolutely zero humidity--made me feel even a bit happy I'd missed running during most of the brutal Atlanta summer.
The moments of running were pure bliss. After being trapped in the surgical support boot and banned from all weight-bearing activity for nearly a quarter of the year, even the walking was pure joy.
As if that joy weren't enough, I found out that very same day that I will be the captain of the Atlanta TNT Country Music Marathon and Half Marathon Team! I am so excited! Mentoring Alaska was great fun, and this time, I will get to be the social director for the group, as well as the liason for our mentors and our honored patient hero. I can't wait to meet the rest of team and help them meet their fundraising and training goals! And while I won't actually get to run the marathon, I'll be out on the course all day, cheering on TNTers from across the country and running alongside all of our team members! I'll probably run the equivalent of a full marathon during that time period, just in smaller bursts!
Training starts officially in November, which is about the time I'll be up to 3 and 4 miles. Perfect timing! And I think a lot of my Phoenix and Alaska teammates will be joining the Nashville gang, so it's going to be a great group!
Also, I'm so grateful to those of you who supported me--I've raised about $3,000, which will go on hold for a marathon next fall, since TNT will pay my way to Nashville.
I'm excited to start my marathon journey again and am glad I'm working with a great Pilates trainer (the fabulous and newly engaged Rachel Breault!) and nutrionist to help me along the way.
Go Team!
It was a bittersweet weekend for me. While a dozen or so of my friends tackled my dream--running the Chicago Marathon--I struggled to run consecutively for five minutes. It's hard to believe I lost a quarter of a year from my injury, especially when I'd trained so hard and was finally feeling confident in running long distances. It's hard to start at the beginning, to struggle with running what could easily be a warm-up.
