So, Thank You

70 days ago I went out for an 8 mile run.

It was the final ten days before the Denver Rock ‘n Roll Marathon. Four months of hard training and I was almost done. I felt pain in my piriformis and left hamstring, but was in the mindset of, “It's supposed to hurt, your training for a marathon. Don’t be a baby. Shut up and do this.” As I approached the turn around point, I decided to kick it into high gear and to see if I could sustain some 7:30 minute miles. I was flying, feeling on top of the world. Nothing could stop me. Until it did stop me.

One mile from home my hip gave out. A sudden, sharp pain with impact. I NEVER walk on runs. Never. Yet, I found myself hobbling home, humbled, defeated. “You pussy,” I told myself. Yet, I knew something was very wrong.

An MRI later that week confirmed the hip stress fracture. I was done. There would be no Denver Marathon. There would be no running for at least three months. Boston in April 2011 might be out of the picture. Hello f*cking crutches.

And just like that, I was done.

The loss of running was huge. But, I worried about something else. I thought if I couldn’t run, the blog was doomed. Who reads a running blog when the author of the blog can’t run, train or relay any sort of personal experience about her running?

But, you came back and stayed. Some new followers joined the party.  For that I am incredibly grateful. This injury has sucked, but without it there would have been no pussy posse. No tales of running in the pool. No idiotic posts about camel toes and devices that allow women to pee standing up. Because if I could have been running, those things would have been replaced by training and race recaps. Stories of crapping in trees and alongside roads.

What I know in my heart is that I am a runner and I love to run. Yet, running is not all of who I am. It does not define me completely. If I cannot run, I am still worth something. Maybe? There is life after and aside from running. Really, there is!!!!

From Zen and the Art of Running:

“When people are deprived of something they enjoy immensely, it is no surprise that they feel sorrow. Most injured runners have to learn to deal with this sorrow of loss. After my injury, I regretted features of running that I hadn’t even known I had enjoyed. Who would have thought I would miss waking up at 5 a.m., or that I liked feeling icicles forming on my eyelashes, or that icing my knees while watching the news was a great way to relax? But lurking behind the pain of loss was an attachment that only made things worse. At some point in my history of running I became attached to the idea that I was a RUNNER.”

Some of you asked how I stayed so positive during recovery. Wine!! And not taking myself so seriously. It’s not like I’m some elite athlete or something.

While I had some down moments mentally, there were not many of them. Here’s what really got me through (Again, from Zen and the Art of Running):

“Don’t ask yourself to to do something beyond your present ability; ask yourself what you need to do now to live a happy and fulfilled life. Now you are not a runner. That person is gone. Instead, you are a person with talents, skills, hobbies, interests and goals – and that’s what you should be pursuing.”

It sure will feel good to get out there again.

So, thank you for hanging in there with me. For your words of support, for your emails just to check in, for your advice. It has meant the world to me. Really, it has.

2nd MRI coming up on Thursday. If it’s clear, I start running again.

See you in Boston.

You guys rock (all 1035 of you),

SUAR

Compromising Positions

For all of us girl suckers who just want to be adored and taken care of by our man, Jason’s comment on yesterday’s post will get you all in a tizzy. He said,

“What occurred to me today is that no matter how bad a day I have had, my wife may have had it worse so I need to be on my best behavior when she gets home and make it comfortable for her.”

Is it just me or is this the true definition of love? When we stop focusing on ourselves and take a moment to think what someone else might need. Big time points, Jason. BIG.

So, we all know how supportive the runner-blogging-world is.  Case in point, I got a gift in the mail a couple of days ago from Ms. Emz. Just because. You know how I love those “just because” moments. When someone does something kind for you with no hope of personal gain. We all need to do one “just because” a day and things might be a bit brighter.

The gift was the famous I Want You to Want Tee from Punk Rock Racing:

Only, I’m not going to pretend to look near as good as Emz does in the shirt. Mostly because I don’t have that sweet belt buckle and I don’t have those long gorgeous legs.

I had to add a little something to make the shirt more legit for me:

So, here’s how it went yesterday when I wore the shirt. You knew there had to be a story, didn’t you? I’m nothing but a boring housewife without my stories.

First let me say, I don’t know how I always seem to find myself in compromising positions. It’s been this way my whole life. I go about my days, feeling pretty confident, then *BAM* I get reminded that I was put on this earth to be laughed at (in a good way).

There was the time I overflowed the toilet.

And, the time I fell off the treadmill.

Or, the time I crapped in a tree.

Don’t forget the time I wore the security tag.

And, there have been countless other incidents involving unexpected farts, a spontaneous puke all over my boyfriend’s bed after a night of imbibing (college), my bathing suit top falling off in front of my boyfriend’s family (different boyfriend).

If anything ever happens to Ken I’m going to have a hell of a time finding a date after this post. Unless you’re the type who goes for a woman who pukes on your bed, overflows your toilet then tops it off with a delicate fart.

Yesterday, I went to the gym and actually got on the bike for the first time since the injury. It was only 30 minutes, but it didn’t involve a pool and I was psyched. I got dressed again in my new shirt and headed to Starbucks because this is what I do after workouts as my prize. I was feeling pretty sassy, knowing everyone was checking out my shirt (fantasy world). I ordered my Grande Christmas Blend and headed over to add the cup of half and half that I always put in my coffee. I like to call it half and half with a splash of coffee.

As I stood there, I realized this.

Yeah, that’s right. My fly was open the whole time. Since I left the gym. Zoom in and you’ll see what I’m talking about. Someone should have yelled, “XYZ PDQ!” (examine your zipper, pretty darn quick) like they did in grade school.

It’s always a good lesson in humility to be me.

Funny thing was, later on I went to the groomer (because a one eyed, three legged dog with an erection problem needs to look good too), and the zipper was down again. I don’t seem to learn. I wish I could blame it on the pants, but they’re not those pants that that zipper that always falls down. It’s just me.

Keeping it in my pants,

SUAR

PS: I’m working on a very special water running video for you, so visit back.

Silver Maple Giveaway!

By now you know I’m not your ordinary chick. I get bats stuck in my crotch, I jump into icy waters in January, and I crap in the strangest of places while I run.

I like to think of myself as unique instead of crude or odd.

And, I like unique things.

That’s why when Tara sent me this prior to my marathon, I melted:

Colorado Marathon 5.9.10

It’s from Silver Maple Jewelry. Jacque, who runs the show over there and happens to be super cool, has been generous enough to offer up a $40 gift certificate to one lucky reader. Silver Maple offers some of the most unique, custom-made jewelry I have ever seen.

Silver Maple uses sterling silver and copper in their creations. Many of their pieces are hand-cut and filed from a sheet of metal for a one-of-a-kind design. By hand, they stamp, distress, brush, and polish each piece to provide a vintage-inspired look. The outcome? A gorgeous, tasteful and unique work of art.

To enter:

• Visit Silver Maple Jewelry HERE.  Browse around, scratch yourself, have a drink and leave a comment letting me know what you would buy with your $40 gift certificate: + 1 entry
• Post this giveaway on your blog with a link to my site: +1

Be sure to leave a comment for each entry!

I’ll announce a random winner a week from today – on July 1, 2010.

In the meantime, when you visit the site and decide to buy something, enter the coupon code “ShutUpAndRun” at checkout and you’ll receive 20% off. It’s good through July 4th.

Happy shopping and good luck!!

Silver Maple gave me this gift certificate free of charge as a giveaway. I paid nothing for it.

 

Friends DO Let Friends Fart

Running tip: Find a buddy or a running group to run with. The best way to not skip your workout is to have others who hold you accountable. You may be able to let yourself off the hook, but it’s tougher to not show up knowing everyone will be talking about what a wimp and loser you are during their 16 mile run.

I met up with fellow bloggers Jill and Tara for Sunday's long run (16 miles). I’ll tell you the best thing about running with people who you’ve never met in person, but who know you from your blog: they already know so much about you, that there is no “breaking in” period. As in, I could have pretty much shown up and taken a dump right in the REI parking lot and neither Tara nor Jill would have batted an eye. (That's me and Jill ->)

It was great to finally meet these girls. After all, I knew we had at least three things in common: running, blogging, geographics. How bad could it be? I was a bit nervous though, kind of like a blind date. What if I can’t keep up? What if they think I’m really weird? What if they try to get to second base (just kidding, that was blind date talk). What if they go to play on the jungle gym and leave me alone on the swings (oh, sorry, having a third grade flashback). At least I didn’t have to worry about farting and stuff, ‘cause like I said, that’s what would be expected of me.

All my fears were laid to rest when I met Jill and Tara. Both were so nice, friendly, easy to be with. We started uphill for a bit just to see if Tara, who had a pulmonary embolism back in the fall, was faking it. She wasn't, and I really felt badly for her. Indeed, she was having some lung issues (that’s a nice way of saying that she coughed up her lung and left it on the curb), so she stayed with us for four miles, then decided to call it a day. Here's me and Tara holding hands and becoming BFFs.


Before we said goodbye to Tara for a bit, the girls were nice enough to let me stop for a short crap:Can you see Tara's pit stain?:

After saying goodbye to Tara, Jill and I trekked our way through Denver on the Cherry Creek Path, through the county club neighborhood (those people with those amazing mansions and big trees – they are SO not happy), and Cheeseman park, or gay-central, of Denver. There’s this really cool platform thing with columns (I think it dates back to B.C.), so I needed a pic with our city in the background.

Jill was a great running partner. Unlike me, she is quite the experienced runner, having run many marathons and four in the past year alone. She BQ’d several times this past year, and is a certified running coach. I always enjoy talking to runners about their races, their training and what works for them. Nice that we had 16 miles to chat!

Jill and I wound our way back to downtown Denver and hit 16 miles right at the doorstep of the best little coffee shop, The Market ->. Tara was waiting for us there with her laptop and her spilled latte all over the table. Bad lungs and clumsy! But, we do love her regardless. Jill drooled over sweets:


I had some swigs of wine (this picture is so gross – I look like such a prepubescent boy. But like Tara said, if we weighed more we would have boobs but we wouldn’t run as fast. If an actor played me in a movie it would probably be Macaulay Culkin from Home Alone. Hello plastic surgery people: how about giving me a boob job to review?):

Tara had a beer and I love her for that:

I ate a croissant sandwich the size of my head (another unflattering picture I look like I need an IV or at least some makeup):

We said our goodbyes, but not before giving the Barista man favors to take our picture (you can fantasize about any favors you want. And no, I have no clue why this guy in the background is asleep):

Overall, a great day spent in great company. It's just great great great great. GREAT. Here's me saying great great.

Drinking: Starbucks Gold Coast coffee