Marathons

Before I skipped town for the rest of the weekend I brought my best friend Sara to the airport this morning. She is heading to Kona to compete in the Iron Man World Championships. Yep, you read right - the big race of them all - Iron Man. She is my friend who kicks ass! Ok, all my friends do but she literally can kick ass. :-)

She was my inspiration to start running. She inspired me and my great-gram motivated me through her struggles. Watching Sara makes it look so effortless and in all reality it isn't. To train for any race takes dedication and practice. Me being me was like "ok, so let's do it"...the same mentality I have for everything. The 150 mile bike ride I did one month after a marathon - yep, same mentality. There was never much training to be done... ok, that is a lie. I think for months I didn't drink much but I certainly pushed myself in a small capacity of time and I did have muscle strains and pains. I did have a team of therapists (physical, although I could probably have needed some mental too) and a few massage therapists who helped me stay flexible throughout.

Sara's constant motivation and friendship kept me going. I felt knowledgeable about everything with the human body and it made me happy. Then came a stupid crash on my bike - Sara said if there was no blood then it isn't considered a real crash! Well my arm didn't listen because I did damage the nerves slightly and that took some recovery time and just as I started running more and prepping to run yet another marathon - this stupid foot thing happens and lays me up for over 5 months now. It didn't kill me so much this summer in the heat and humidity to not run but to see the cross country teams run and hear about marathons, see neighbors out running and to drop Sara off at the airport to compete in the biggest race of any one's lives, kills me. I am not a super runner, but I am a decent runner - someone who wants to get better and is always willing to try new things and now she can't. She is at the mercy of her foot and the doctors. This journey I am on feels like a marathon but I tell you this... you can't be Sara's friend and give up and that I will not do. I will run again and I will bike again and someday I will suck it up an learn to swim the competitive way. I may never be an Iron Man champion or even competitor but I am certainly my own champion and my own hero and I have Sara to thank for that.

Sara - kick ass next Saturday in Kona. We all love you and are praying and cheering for you. May the wind be at your back, the lava fields not so hot and may your grandpa be up there in that blue sky guiding you along through the swim, the bike and the run. You deserve this more than anyone I know.

p.s. going to Boston on Oct. 25th to see a specialist there. My next option here is very invasive surgery and the doc isn't sure that will fix me... I am not so angry at him after he told me about the surgery and I can't blame him. The recovery is a marathon in itself.