Below is a link to piece that aired on New Hampshire Public Radio. It's a Boston Marathon feature that highlights Heidi Westover and myself. The link to the audio is above the transcript.
http://www.nhpr.org/node/32030
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
A wise, old man once said...
Okay, he's not old, but maybe, just maybe, he is wise.
This past summer my older brother, Aaron, was training for the Chicago Marathon and putting in more miles week after week than ever done prior. He kindly let me tag along during his build-up. One day while running one of my favorite trail routes (the aptly named "dog loop") we started talking about how his wife, an avid runner herself, expressed some concern about overuse and injury, as he struggled with injuries in the past. She wanted him to get to the start line healthy and in the best shape of his life, but she was all too familiar with his past injuries and how they could sneak up on him. During the conversation, while skipping over some small rocks and roots, he said, "I would be really upset if I became injured because of doing too much or doing something stupid with my training, but if I, say for instance, tripped on one of these roots and whacked my knee on a rock and sustained an injury I would be considerably less upset."
"Really???" I questioned.
"Yeah, I mean the training is something I can control and if I get hurt from it, I'm directly responsible and could have prevented it, but if it's something random, it's nothing I did or didn't do. It's out of my hands."
My underlying control freak peeked her head out and started to debate how something so random, so uncontrollable wouldn't make him more upset. I saw his point, but wasn't sure if I could whole-heartedly agree. For some reason, this conversation stuck with me and would pop into my head every now and again and I'd debate the merits of each. On one hand, you want to push the envelope and ride the red-line (risking what you can control) and on the other, if something is out of your control how can you be overly put-out by it?
Well, little did I know this conversation was going to turn into my reality. A little less than 2 weeks before I was to run the Boston Marathon, I stepped into a shallow pothole while running. Something I've probably done a thousand times before, but as soon as I did it, I thought, "not good." My knee was immediately stiff and achy, but figuring it would loosen and shake itself out, I continued to run. This lasted only another two miles and I was relegated to walking back. I bagged my workout and went home to ice and take some anti-inflammatories. Suffice it to say, it got worse before it got better and it's still on the mend. I've tried to run twice since it happened. The second attempt I made it a total of 11 minutes and then sent the email I didn’t want to send, saying I would have to withdraw from this year’s race and the women’s elite start.
I'm not going to say I wasn't upset or didn't think about all the times I got up in the winter dark and donned a headlamp before going to work or the tough workouts I suffered through, but there was nothing I could do, so I kept it in perspective and got over myself. It was out of my hands and I can relish in the fact that my training never pushed me over the edge and the goal of listening to my body in this training block was achieved.
So, as another wise man once said, “control what you can and roll with the rest.”
This past summer my older brother, Aaron, was training for the Chicago Marathon and putting in more miles week after week than ever done prior. He kindly let me tag along during his build-up. One day while running one of my favorite trail routes (the aptly named "dog loop") we started talking about how his wife, an avid runner herself, expressed some concern about overuse and injury, as he struggled with injuries in the past. She wanted him to get to the start line healthy and in the best shape of his life, but she was all too familiar with his past injuries and how they could sneak up on him. During the conversation, while skipping over some small rocks and roots, he said, "I would be really upset if I became injured because of doing too much or doing something stupid with my training, but if I, say for instance, tripped on one of these roots and whacked my knee on a rock and sustained an injury I would be considerably less upset."
"Really???" I questioned.
"Yeah, I mean the training is something I can control and if I get hurt from it, I'm directly responsible and could have prevented it, but if it's something random, it's nothing I did or didn't do. It's out of my hands."
My underlying control freak peeked her head out and started to debate how something so random, so uncontrollable wouldn't make him more upset. I saw his point, but wasn't sure if I could whole-heartedly agree. For some reason, this conversation stuck with me and would pop into my head every now and again and I'd debate the merits of each. On one hand, you want to push the envelope and ride the red-line (risking what you can control) and on the other, if something is out of your control how can you be overly put-out by it?
Well, little did I know this conversation was going to turn into my reality. A little less than 2 weeks before I was to run the Boston Marathon, I stepped into a shallow pothole while running. Something I've probably done a thousand times before, but as soon as I did it, I thought, "not good." My knee was immediately stiff and achy, but figuring it would loosen and shake itself out, I continued to run. This lasted only another two miles and I was relegated to walking back. I bagged my workout and went home to ice and take some anti-inflammatories. Suffice it to say, it got worse before it got better and it's still on the mend. I've tried to run twice since it happened. The second attempt I made it a total of 11 minutes and then sent the email I didn’t want to send, saying I would have to withdraw from this year’s race and the women’s elite start.
I'm not going to say I wasn't upset or didn't think about all the times I got up in the winter dark and donned a headlamp before going to work or the tough workouts I suffered through, but there was nothing I could do, so I kept it in perspective and got over myself. It was out of my hands and I can relish in the fact that my training never pushed me over the edge and the goal of listening to my body in this training block was achieved.
So, as another wise man once said, “control what you can and roll with the rest.”
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