Guess Who's Back?

Who knew running would be my greatest teacher?  (NOBODY!!!!)

Who knew I would be too stubborn to learn? (EVERYBODY!!!! )

Look if you know me at all (and most of you do…but if you don’t read my other blogs then you will), then you will know that patience is not a virtue I possess when it comes to myself.

Find a parking space, don’t worry I’ll drive around.

Wait in line, I can do it patiently.

Get over an injury – HELL TO THE NO!

I put off physical therapy because I wanted to do my races and I knew it would do far worse damage to my spirit and my mind to not run than the damage that would rock my body.

And I was right. (See even I know me!)

Physical therapy has not been easy.  It’s physically difficult and mentally trying. I tried to keep my same patterns.  I went to Treadmill Class and walked on the treadmill.  I met the gang on Saturday mornings and walked.
I waited patiently to get the okay to run.

Until I couldn’t.

I wanted to be fixed, so finally I said to my physical therapist, “You HAVE to let me run.”

I didn’t yell. I didn’t cry.  I said it matter-of-factly.

YOU.HAVE.TO.LET.ME.RUN.

And he did.

I’m approved for short, slow, flat runs.

I’m starting at 0 (aka 4.5 on the treadmill), I’ve lost all that speed I trained for in the spring, but I feel like it will come back more quickly.

I’m still not running pain free, BUT I’m not in pain after a run, which is a HUGE deal!

And I did my first race back  and it was awesome!              
                                       

On Sunday December 8^th , I did half of a half. OR a Half-Marathon Relay with Ditto.

A bunch of our other friends joined us for either the relay or the half marathon.

It was freezing.  I know some of you are reading this in places where the temperature often dips low. That is not the case for us Cali kids.

20’s and 30’s is FREAKING COLD and we are all ill-equipped for such conditions.

We bundled up, wore long sleeves (the HORROR!),  head warmers, gloves, etc. and went to Ventura to run the awesome Santa to the Sea!

If you’re looking for a fun race in the LA area in December, look no further. This race is well-organized, easy to navigate, family-friendly and everyone gets a medal!

One of my favorite things about this race (I ran the half last year…) is that they have a contest for the neighborhoods you run through for the best neighborhood spirit.

It is just really fun.

And it was awesome to do it with my friends.

Neil and Erika did the half marathon.

The relay teams were:

Team Ditto

Deb and Cody

Marcy and Angela.

Cody, Ditto and Angela waited in a warm coffee shop until it was time to get us….It was really cold, but we sucked it up and jumped around before the race.

The corrals got warmer due to body heat and when it was time, we were off and running.

This race also has a costume contest so I was running with Frosty, Santa, elves and even two girls carrying a surfboard with Santa chillin’ on it in a lawn chair.

My goal was to not be in pain and to run the whole time. 

I won’t lie, it didn’t tickle to run.  My left leg is super tight, regardless of how much I stretch.  It just is.

I feel like my legs belong to two different people.  One relaxed and one uptight.  (Maybe this is indicative of my personalities?)

Anyway, I just ran.  I ran as fast as I could without feeling sore or winded. I’m rebuilding my breathing too.  It’s crazy how much you lose.

I kept moving forward. I walked at water stations and didn’t stop to pee once (which for me is a miracle, but the lines were so long and I knew Ditto was waiting for me!)

I ran a little under a 13 minute mile.  It felt good. I actually piggy-backed on some ladies doing 30/30 intervals but instead of run/walk I did jog/sprint.  Now, my sprint wasn’t all that fast, but it worked for me and I may work this in to my marathon training….which starts next week!!!!!!

I got to the relay area in 1 hour and 22 minutes, gave Ditto our ankle bracelet and she was off.

Deb and Marcy were waiting for me. They had been in for about 5 minutes, so I felt like I did a great job.

We hopped on the shuttle bus and headed to the finish line. (The two disasters of the day were the shuttle between the relay point and finish line and the line for bag check!)

After meeting our peeps, we took pictures and celebrated our victories…

Both Angela and I were running our first race back after injuries

Deb hadn’t run a race since June!

Marcy had never done anything further than a 5K!

Ditto running with Litto in her belly!                                                             

Cody getting back in the swing of things!

Neil and Erika both got PRs!!!!

All in all it was a great race and I am thrilled to be back. 

I’m not 100% yet, but I’m getting there.

It’s taking longer than I anticipated and my patience is waning, but as long as I’m allowed to run a little bit….I’ll be happy!