Fragile

When you get older, you realize how fragile things are. Emotions, people ... and your feet (profound, aren't I?). One tiny little change can throw off everything. You might not notice something is off when you're running one mile or even five miles, but log 20 or so in a day and tiny issues compound themselves and turn into one big problem. There's a life lesson in there somewhere.

I've been breezing through the training this year in a lot of ways. I've been stretching, resting and avoiding the pitfalls of last year. I've been running faster and smarter overall. Then, it happened. Last week, I noticed a pain in my arch on my Thursday run. I brushed it off. Saturday, that same pain decided to work harder to get my attention. The last 5 miles of my 20 mile run weren't pretty, but I finished them. I made it home, Taco Joint in tow and then, I panicked.

I went to the doctor. I got all kinds of advice from people. I iced, I taped and harder than all of that, I rested. I took three days off from running. Three days seemed like forever. Somewhere in the middle of day 2, I was chatting with the ever-wise Rachel. "I want to run today," I complained. "Well, which is more important, running today or running the marathon?" Ugh. Fine. I did it, bossy one.

So, this week, I learned again that I'm not invincible. I learned that sometimes instead of playing tough, I need to just be smart (see comment above regarding life lesson). Let's hope that I've saved myself an injury. One month from a marathon is no time for a breakdown (is there a good time for one? I'm due.).

P.S. Dear KT Tape - you're my new bestie. Thanks for getting me through this week.