Transitioning

September? Really? I remember last winter here in Denver being exceptionally looooonnnng and dreaming about the warmer temps so I didn't have to wear 3 layers of Merino wool under a wind breaker and two pairs of gloves to go outdoors for a run. Fast forward 8 months and here I sit with the month of September's blank calendar staring at me, screaming to be filled in with lots of miles as the summer I so longed for to train comes to a close. With very few miles banked.

The onslaught of back-to-school madness has over taken over - both for myself and my boys. My twin boys are now in high school *sigh* - the same school I'm at, to boot. I had mixed feelings about meshing our daytime lives in the same territory but so far it's been really good. Brendan, always my affectionate child, comes into my office daily and gives me a hug before he heads out to lunch - I'm sure that will change soon but for now I eat it up. Ryan doesn't pop in much, unless he wants a ride home after his study hall, which coincides exactly with my 2:00 departure time. And the best part is I get to spy on them (hourly??) and make sure they're hanging in there and doing the the right thing.

After 9 weeks of total summer slug mode, getting into a new routine is not without it's adjustments. With a new school start time of 7:10 (alarming for any school age child over the age of 13) the 5:30 alarm clock is jolting. The mad rush to get ready is chaotic (a new shower routine needs to be implemented - I am the one always losing out with not much hot water and then scrambling like a maniac to get my butt out the door on time). Then there's lunches amass in assembly line production between bites of my beloved Kashi Go Lean cereal; signing countless teacher expectations forms; checking to make sure homework is in backpacks (and not left at home, which was our nemesis last year); write checks for t-shirts, band fees, cross country fees and agenda notebooks. We fill water bottles, stuff backpacks, stuff granola bars in pockets for after-school activities (band for B and cross country for R) and locate lost shoes. We let the cat in and out 50 times and if I'm lucky, I sometimes manage to get my peanut butter sandwich and banana in my bag for lunch.

Then there's college daughter, who is still enjoying her last few days of freedom as we painstakingly try to figure out her financial aid and what classes to take, along with "what do I do with my life" questions. To be 19 and trying to sort out your professional strengths is never easy.

Cross Country track meets, marching band competitions, college daughters and a new client who's running the Houston Marathon.....we are all trying to find our rhythm - but right now we're just slightly off.

We will get there eventually. Like every transition from one way of life to another, it just takes some time to adjust and find our groove.

To top off the crazies, last Friday and Saturday I got to spend the day working the Skirt Chaser 5K here in Denver. A couple months ago, Beth from "Shut up and Run" asked me if I'd help be one of the logistic coordinators for the big event. Never one to pass up an opportunity to give back to the running community I have taken so much from, I gladly accepted. Well, the paycheck didn't hurt either. Throughout the summer, I have passed out race postcards, toured the police station numerous times - and not because there was a warrant out for my arrest due to recklessly pulling out of my garage and smashing my fender numerous times - but to obtain permits and hire police to man the numerous intersections, and deal with cranky city of Denver officials - who obviously hate their jobs. The race is pretty cool: the chicks get a 3 minute head start over the dudes and in place of a running shirt, the women get running skirts. Cool, huh? Sorry guys, you don't get a skirt - but I did see a few males sporting them nevertheless. The job wrapped up with the big venue on Saturday later afternoon with a 95 degree 5K race. I got there early-ish to fill my 10-hour day by stuffing race packets, registering late participants, eating too much food, drinking too much beer (ok, not really. I had good intentions to keep up with Beth and Tara but the stuff wasn't sitting in my stomach well so a half was all I could down - sorry Jamoosh), cheering on the girls (sorry guys - total girl power here), clipping off timing chips while handing out high-fives, and cleaning up after a 1200 runner post-race party. Whew, my legs were beat and ached worse than any marathon I've ever endured. Seriously. I guess it didn't help that I ran and went to AT class that morning...but nevertheless, it was a lot of fun and something I can use to my advantage on my running resume one day, perhaps.

Tara, me and Beth enjoying a much-needed beer break from the rat-race festivities. Man Beth, you have some cut arm muscles! Not that I hate you or anything!

It was really fun to be on the other side of the race as the runners came in - and since I don't particularly care for 5K's, my heart wasn't aching to join in. So who do you think finished first...was it a guy or a gal? Chicks get a 3-minute head start, remember. I am very proud to say a girl won!! Whoohooo! In fact, her finish time was 17:20 something (is that incredible or what? She didn't even have that runner's build you see with super fast women) so a guy to beat her would have had to run 14:20. I was talking to the cross country coaches at school and there are about 3 males in the state of Colorado running college track that can endure that fast time right now....but it's on a flat track (my guess is they run at CU Boulder, which has a powerhouse track team) so no way anyone was going to pass her. Yes, the chicks rule. In fact, the first 6 finish line runners were female. YAY!

So now that the Skirt Chaser is done and I look at my blank September calendar and wonder at great lengths if running will occupy those little daily calendar squares.

Marathon training has become one of the pillars in my life, holding things up and giving them form. It's so much a regular part of me and I can’t imagine my life without it. I love the training. I love how my body feels fit and clean when I'm on a program. I love how excuses are nonexistent. I love to wake up early and get it done. I love having a purpose to my speed work, tempo runs, hill workouts, and long runs. I love the confidence building aspect of suffering. I love the sacrifices. I am afraid to let go of my training. I am afraid of not pushing myself and afraid of what there is after my heel issue - or worse, IF there will be an after heel issue. I am afraid of wandering aimlessly again with no direction or purpose with my running. I am afraid that by taking a few slow days, I will lose the desire to train….like I did post San Diego marathon 7 years ago when I had some pretty serious hydration issues. The mere act of taking my mess to the road with intent puts everything in perspective for me: I simply run better with a purpose behind it where I can challenge my momentum.

August ended with a grand total of 29 miles - that's like a recovery week during marathon training - blek. 2010 mileage count is 1167.9 - bleeeek. No way I'll reach my "2010 mile" goal for the 2010 year. And that's ok, I guess. I'm transitioning from marathon training to just banking some miles right now - a place I haven't been in a very long time and like our transition from lazy days summer mode to chaotic back-to-school mode, it's not easy to transition from marathon training to just putting in some miles; but I just need to make the adjustments - preparing myself by collecting energy and harnessing positive thoughts to making sure I am firmly rooted for the test ahead.

I FINAAAALLLLY got some somewhat positive news today from my doctor - who has been the actual hold-up on all this insurance mess. The insurance wasn't going to insure me until I got an OK from the doctor that I was cancer-free. I've been fighting with the doctor's receptionist for 3 weeks trying to get a return call from my doctor. Turns out, the doctor's been trying to call but had one of my phone number digits off (or more likely the receptionist, who is NOT my bff) and therefore was not able to get ahold of me last week, as promised. So today when I called back again I was put on hold and eventually got to talk to the doctor LIVE! After discussing the entire situation, she starts reading my folder and it turns ou, believe it or not, I actually HAD a followup biopsy done after my D&C (the "issue" the insurance company denied me on) AND that biopsy turned out negative - no signs of cancer or even pre-cancer. So the insurance company was totally in error with this whole mess and SHOULD have insured me back on August 2nd. Grrrrrr! So the doctor is going to write a letter to the insurance company, along with my negative biopsy results, and hopefully within a couple weeks, I can get this whole insurance disaster laid to rest.

In the meantime, I am running. 29 miles for August, as I mentioned above. I can't foresee September looking a whole lot better, but we'll see. How's the heel behaving, you ask? Eh, so-so. My farthest run was almost 6 on Sunday with my neighbor, Jim, and all was good (but it did hurt a little later that day) - what's really pathetic right now is my pace. But again, I'm in a transition - pace is irrelative, or so I need to force myself to understand. Right now it's about running healthy and not about speed - yet it's very difficult to see the Garmin hovering around the mid-9 range. But at least I'm out there doing what I love to do best: run! A new pesty ailment is actually hindering over my heel: Saturday morning during AT class, I was doing these frog jumps over these short hurdles, a drills that just aches my knee so I usually do something else instead; but we were grouped into teams and I felt obligated to my team so we could move to the next station, so the frog jump I did. And now my knee is really bothering me. I mean, I usually can run through knee pain but this is excruciating to just walk! I ran okay on it Sunday but last night when I tried to run, no way was it happily going to let me do so. When I went to meet Tara tonight for our weekly Wednesday swim (aka: chat) session, I walked into the locker room with my knee fully covered in KT Tape. I had to google how to apply the stuff so I'm certain it wasn't applied correctly; but psychologically, I knew it was magically healing my knee. I'm going to go apply some of this magical hocus-pocus blue tape to my heel tonight when I go to bed. I'm certain I'll wake with all body parts ready to go out and marathon train!

I do like to dream. But I'll never give up hope.

And then ... I'm going to take a few deep breaths while I transition into this cooler September "just running with no marathon training" weather and run whatever my foot allows me to. Right now, I must wrap my head around just being thankful to be running. The marathon in me isn't dead - it's just taking a small break. And the slower than molasses miles I AM allowed to run are miles I can use to my advantage. Let's bring September on! I'm ready for the transition!!

(and sorry this post is all over the map - I've started bits and pieces throughout the week and I just don't have time to pull it all together in one logical post. Very fitting for how my life is right now - ha!).