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Sunday, April 26, 2015

Practice #5: Seventy Five Minutes

We have come to our last day of timed runs. Next practice starts the mileage. I'm excited and nervous, but this week was a big week. For several reasons.

First of all, I went to Run With Us Thursday morning and was fitted for some insoles. Now, I've had orthotics suggested to me, but I have a good reason for being iffy on those. I don't have pain every moment of every day. If simple walking were painful, I would consider them, but since the pain is only during running, there's really no reason for them. I tried a few and ended up with a pair of Superfeet. Thursday night, when I went for my run, there was some pain, but it was so minimal compared to everything I've felt that I hesitate to call it pain. Either way, I was able to actually run one-one intervals!

I cried at the end of the workout because I realized I can really do this.

Saturday morning, when we met, it was freezing. I kept moving with a patch of sun, desperate to stay in it, as evidenced by my different positions in these photos.



We got updated on our team fundraising total. (Hopefully, Tink will be all the way at the top by the end of the season.)


Then, the mission moment was mine to give. Since my friend Katie is a leukemia survivor, she is my honored teammate. I was worried I would start crying while I told her story, but luckily I was able to get through it without any tears. (Afterward, our LLS chapter head, Sarah, told me she knew the type of leukemia Katie had and started crying, thinking I was giving an "In Memoriam" moment.)

You can now find the names of all people I am running in memory or honor of on the side of my blog.


It makes me ridiculously excited that I have a ribbon with Katie's name on it to add to my belt.


Then it was off to run. Everyone had to divert off the Rose Bowl path and head up a huge hill. Then they came back down to the path and continued on it. At the Washington corner, we were to turn up toward the paths we will apparently be running during the rest of the season. This was also the first time we had an aid station we could potentially reach before turning around.

However, since I am slow and still injured, I was excused from the hill. I never made it to the aid station either. But I did get to do a few running intervals, so I didn't mind.


I was so happy I could actually run that once I saw the home stretch, I just went for it.


In case you're wondering about the stick in my hand, no, it is not a weapon to whack people out of my way. It's a rolling stick that you use on sore and tight muscles. Coach Pete was letting me borrow his, but why he gave it to me before I finished, I'm not sure. So I ran the last little stretch with it.

See? Happy runner!


(A wild ponytail appears!)

While I'm still not fast and I'm still having a little pain, it was a great day. I was reminded why I'm running for this cause. And I have had the pleasure of seeing my unwillingness to give up triumph over my body's protestations. I'm crossing my fingers that the rest of the season goes like this! 

Go team!


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