Yesterday I headed out for a small run. Pete stayed homed because the day before he kicked-ass in the St. Croix River Triathlon. I left him curled up on the couch with a cat and I headed out. My legs felt good, my mind was wandering and there was no rhyme or reason to my pace. This was the kind of run that I wish I could have every day. As I approached my turn around point, I realized that I didn’t want to turn around. So instead, I turned left to loop around the lake clockwise. Since I was running alone my pace varied considerably. As I felt stronger I went faster, when I was feeling winded I slowed down a bit. The air coming off the lake was crisp and cool. This was a good run.
At one point I remember thanking my feet for doing such great work. And this is where the peace began. In October I’ll undergo foot surgery. I’m having a Lapidus Bunionectomy, because apparently I’m a 90-year old woman. If I’m going to have bursitis in my shoulder, I might as well have a bunion on my foot. Surgery is needed for the bunion. Aside from having a couple of pins in my foot, being in a cast for more than a month, being in a boot for another month, I will not be doing any kind of running, biking, yoga, etc., for a solid four months. This is an elective surgery, but having lived with pain in my foot for the better part of ten years, I don't really have much of a choice. Another year of running and I don't think I'll be able to run at all. Choosing to have the surgery in the fall and not the summer is the best part of all of this. I can catch up on my reading, knitting, and focus any exercise on my core and upper body.
It was during this run however, that I realized that I really do like to run. Outside of training or any concrete goal, on the days that I can go out, with no pressure, clean (as opposed to muddled) thoughts in my head, I love to run. There are occasions that I hate running, don't get me wrong. But yesterday was not one of those days. Yesterday it was all about me and my legs. I felt connected to my body and realized that I'll be closing in on my last great runs sooner than I think. That despite all of the struggles I've had this summer with keeping my spirits up, not getting into my head too much, doubting my abilities, despite all that, I've still managed to come pretty far. And I've had the most amazing person beside me the whole time. I'm grateful that I can push my body as much as I do and get results.
As I was crossing the trail and heading back home, I acknowledged that despite the many months that I won't be able to go for a run like that, come this time next year, I'll be able to do it without any pain. My body has been put through the ringer the last several of years and it’s done pretty well. I want to keep doing what I'm doing. I love triathlons. I love training with Pete, Marie and Molly. I want to meet more people like us to train with and learn from. I don't want to stop. So in order to keep doing what I'm doing, I need to stop and take care of myself.
Sep 7, 2010
Sep 6, 2010
St. Croix River Triathlon
The 2010 St. Croix River Triathlon was probably one of the best spectator events that I've been too. Its too bad that there weren't more spectators! The Sprint distance triathlon was held on Saturday, September 4 and the Olympic distance on Sunday, September 5. This race benefits Charities Callenge and the Hudson High School Athletic Departments. My guess is that with so many more people that participate in the Sprint distance, all of the spectators are at the Saturday event. No matter, since Pete was participating in the Olympic distance, I was a Sunday spectator.
Coming of off record heat for the summer, it was hard to imagine waking up that morning and believing that Pete would be getting into the water with air temperatures below 50-degrees. At most events you wouldn't see people milling about the transition area minutes before the start, instead you'd see them in and out of the water, warming up. I saw one person in the water warming up. One. Then again this is one of the smallest events, with 103 participants.
Pete was one of only a handful of people that would be swimming without a wetsuit. We see in the coming years if he dons one in future races. There were three waves of group starts, men 39 and under, men 40 and older, then women and relay teams last. With Pete's age group in the water first, and he being without a wetsuit, I could amazingly see him out in the water. With two laps around the buoys, I was psyched to see him holding strong in the top four.
Twenty-four minutes and Pete was out of the water. Up the sand to the steps, up the steps to the transition area, throwing on his bike gear and he was off. Of course being that it was still under 50-degrees, today's bike gear included a jacket. I would later find out that his feet were frozen and didn't warm up until halfway through the run. Cold.
Because there were virtually no spectators, I was able to run around taking pictures - which was just a blast! Click HERE to some pictures of the race.
I knew that I had a little over an hour before Pete would be back from the bike, 40K. I watched more people transition, talked with the announcer, talked with some really awesome people waiting for their turn to run the relay and really just enjoyed myself.
An hour and forty-two minutes in, Pete was blazing in on the bike, his transition was so fast that he ran by me and all I heard him say was "My feet are still frozen." By this point I was just beaming with joy. He was kicking ass. His times were already amazing and I was just so damn proud of him. I knew that as much as he might be hurting, I also knew that his competitive nature, determination and two months of training since the Life Time Tri would just propel him forward. It did. At 2:38 he crossed the finish line. My Pete.
The folks that put on this race did an amazing job. Final Stretch, really knows how to show a racer a good time. I'm looking forward to participating in this event next year. To view the results for the St. Croix River Triathlon click HERE.
Coming of off record heat for the summer, it was hard to imagine waking up that morning and believing that Pete would be getting into the water with air temperatures below 50-degrees. At most events you wouldn't see people milling about the transition area minutes before the start, instead you'd see them in and out of the water, warming up. I saw one person in the water warming up. One. Then again this is one of the smallest events, with 103 participants.
Pete was one of only a handful of people that would be swimming without a wetsuit. We see in the coming years if he dons one in future races. There were three waves of group starts, men 39 and under, men 40 and older, then women and relay teams last. With Pete's age group in the water first, and he being without a wetsuit, I could amazingly see him out in the water. With two laps around the buoys, I was psyched to see him holding strong in the top four.
Twenty-four minutes and Pete was out of the water. Up the sand to the steps, up the steps to the transition area, throwing on his bike gear and he was off. Of course being that it was still under 50-degrees, today's bike gear included a jacket. I would later find out that his feet were frozen and didn't warm up until halfway through the run. Cold.
Because there were virtually no spectators, I was able to run around taking pictures - which was just a blast! Click HERE to some pictures of the race.
I knew that I had a little over an hour before Pete would be back from the bike, 40K. I watched more people transition, talked with the announcer, talked with some really awesome people waiting for their turn to run the relay and really just enjoyed myself.
An hour and forty-two minutes in, Pete was blazing in on the bike, his transition was so fast that he ran by me and all I heard him say was "My feet are still frozen." By this point I was just beaming with joy. He was kicking ass. His times were already amazing and I was just so damn proud of him. I knew that as much as he might be hurting, I also knew that his competitive nature, determination and two months of training since the Life Time Tri would just propel him forward. It did. At 2:38 he crossed the finish line. My Pete.The folks that put on this race did an amazing job. Final Stretch, really knows how to show a racer a good time. I'm looking forward to participating in this event next year. To view the results for the St. Croix River Triathlon click HERE.
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