Humbled Runner

A few days ago, I was brought down to earth, fell off my high horse, and ate Mr. Stanley’s dust. Yep. I was hummmmm-b-led… majorly, humbled.

It all started at dinner. All great ideas involve food. We were having a grand ‘ol time eating the love-filled meal I had cooked for us. Cafe Stanley’s "Carne con Chile and Beans" (I’ll share the recipe with you on my almost complete website) were extra delicious because they were made with my secret ingredient-extra love. Really, food tastes so much better when adding extra dashes of love. That day, my magic wand was swirling and swirling.

Anyway, my son was telling me about how his dad (a.k.a, my husband) had outrun the fastest runner on his baseball team at practice. This got us chatting about sprinting and racing, and well, I’m ultra competitive in non-running sports, so this topic was somewhat up my alley.

Running is for mind and body health ( oh, and writing inspiration)- a non-competitive sport for me. However, my competitive juices kicked in when we discussed sprinting. I was a sprinter, eons ago. Yes, like on a real track and field team. With an arrogant tone and demeanor, I said to my husband, “... oh, I can totally outrun you…” We had a fun exchange and I persisted with racing that lovely man who puts up with my weirdness ( I mean interesting nature). He said, “... I’m not racing you. I KNOW, I’ll win.” He smiled knowing his comment would irk my competitive side.

It did. I smiled because I love his playful nature, but was also a little bothered because I know I’m not the fastest endurance runner, but as far as sprinting short distances, w-ell,  not to be arrogant or anything, but, I can totally keep up with speedsters. I even said, “... well, you’re lucky, anyway, because my leg is starting to hurt…” Honestly, it wasn’t an excuse , in case, he agreed to race and I didn't win. My right quad was really starting to hurt.

Did We Race?

Nope. Not that evening. Trust me, I was ready to turn our neighborhood into a track. But, he declined.

Sunday Runday?

Usually, not for me, unless, I must switch up my running schedule due to mom/family responsibilities. It was Sunday ( a scheduled rest day). I was dressed for a run because I had taken a few days off after running a 20 mile run the previous Sunday and an almost 16 mile run three days after… I know… As I type that craziness, I’m cringing.

You see what I mean about having to switch up my marathon training schedule due to mom/family responsibilities? One of my super-smart-runner friends reminded me how difficult marathon training is (time consuming) when making motherhood my primary role in life. But, like most runners, we all have numerous life roles along with our running dreams (for me it’s to BQ). I have an incredibly supportive husband and son, but I can’t help it, I want to continue excelling at being a dedicated, fun, and present mom and wife, hence, running goes down on my list.

It’s crazy to switch up training as often as I do, especially, because it leads to injury. My husband caringly reminded me to be cautious of injury when I told him I was going out for a 16 mi. run so close to a 20 mi. run (he’s not a runner, but he’s a cyclist, so I should have listened). I wanted to listen. Honestly, I wasn’t being stubborn or a crazy-runner, I was worried. Worried I wouldn’t be ready for the LA Marathon since I’ve skipped several long runs because I want to be a great mom, wife, sister, daughter, aunt, and friend 99.9% of the time. I know, crazy...

Get to the Point, Karina. Your Posts are Too Long (This One Is Not)

Sorry. Ok, so we hop on over to the local high school  track. The plan was  to warm up, gently run and listen to my body. My husband and son joined me, hopeful a baseball game would be taking place at the adjacent baseball field. No baseball game, but since my husband  had been wanting to practice base running form with our son, they did that while I attempted running without pain.

After an easy four laps ( a mile), my leg felt ok. Definitely, not 100 percent, but good enough to think I could keep running.  As I’m approaching my son and husband, I pause. My leg is ok and  endorphins and serotonin have kicked in, so the competitive side takes a peak. “Please, honey, come on, just once..., please?” I ask with a giant smile. I think he was tired of the pestering and agreed. Our son smiled when he saw us walking towards the starting line. As a former track and field star (ha!),  I take sprinting competition seriously. My husband agreed to line up at the start, like real track stars. I know, you probably feel sorry for my poor guy for putting up with me (sometimes, I do, too). You would like him-he’s super awesome and funny!

Guess who was on lane 3? My husband. I'm on the left (lane 2). I had to use a filter on these two pictures- It adds dramatic effect. Right?

This is me (in case you were wondering). My hair is a tad messy. I was wearing a hat, (sunny at the start) but by the time, my husband agreed to race, the sky was grey and felt a few drops of rain. Even, more dramatic... right?

We took our marks, got set, and he went. I went, too, but I totally ate his dust. Yep. I lost. I majorly lost  to Mr. Speedster and, now, I'm injured for who-knows-how-long.  Fortunately, the LA Marathon is on March 19th, so if I listen to my body and keep resting, I may make it to the start line injury free. Definitely, not at the endurance level I want to be at, but I know I will BQ. Not this year, or next, but,  I KNOW with my determination, I will run a Boston Marathon before I turn 60-for sure!

Hurting My Leg Was Not An Excuse

Even if I hadn’t hurt my quad, my husband is so darn fast, I still would have eaten dust. The man has gorgeous, strong runner legs, so instead of being a sore loser, I say, “... You see… you should totally be a runner… You were born to run…” His response was not nice, not nice at all, “Nope. Sorry, I hate running (ouch, right, runners?). I will never be a runner. But, I’ll happily cheer you on.” he ended with his beautiful smile. What a waste of talent, right? But, in his hey day, his speed came in handy as a baseball and football player.

While I’m mostly in awe of my husband's speed (he wasn't even giving it his all, either), I was a teeny bit (ok, fine, a ton) bothered he outrun me by a lot… But, I’m using the outcome as motivation to keep at my continual need for speed. Sprinting and long distance running use different form. I haven’t practiced sprinting form in years since my new running love is long distance, so, maybe, some of the loss is due to form, but, still, my husband is way… fast and super sweet. He reminded me of the changes in form, too, along with my leg injury as a reason for feeling like a tortoise . I may be a looser, but not a sore one. I admitted, even without leg pain, he still would have brought me down to earth, off my high horse, etc, etc.

I haven’t told my brother, yet. Not looking forward to his reaction. He would LOVE to know I’m no longer the fastest in the family. As a child and adolescent, it bothered  him to lose to me in our sprinting competition, year after year. He refuses to race me, but after this defeat, I’m sure, he’ll happily take the starting line with me.

Waaaa… I went from cheetah to snail… Waaaa…

OK, enough with the tears. I’m ready to get to work. Well, as soon as my leg feels better and this time, I’m definitely not skipping my post-run yoga sessions.

Ah, I can skip it today, I feel great. Who’s regretting those repeated thoughts, now, lady?

Again, I’m using this as motivation to keep improving as a runner. Plus, it’s fun for our marriage and our son can see how people of all ages need continual practice to improve and attain goals. Talent alone is not enough. He was born with natural talents, but as he develops, he must practice if he wants to continue excelling at his chosen sports and activities.

Lesson learned: listen to your body, rest, and always do post-run recovery (for me, it’s yoga).

Thank you for taking time to read my koo-koo mind’s adventures... Wait, if you'd like to read a fun anecdote, please keep reading. I promise, no politics in this post.

Epilogue

What is the point of this collage, Karina?

As I was waiting for my husband and son to finish up their baseball running form, I was feeling sorry for myself, worrying and imagining the worst. This is it, I'm not going to be ready for the LA Marathon. I should have listened to my body. I should have listened to M (my husband). I know better, I should have, this, that, and ... I could have spent minutes to hours thinking of the should haves, but that wasn't making me happy, so I made the decision to turn this negative into a positive.

Watching my son and husband sprint back and forth on the track wasn't making me smile, either. While I love watching them play sports, seeing them practice my favorite sport (aside from baseball) without pain, made me sad. As I sat sidelined, I thought with a deep sigh: shoot! This is going to delay training, again.

I decide to turn away from their fun and took pictures of the beautiful sky. As I'm turning, my hair gets in my face to say hello. Hi, I reply and notice it's still dry and silky. How?! I was running and sitting in rain, a light rain, but it was wet and humid, my hair's nemesis.

No way... It looks like this with this rain?! As I'm finishing up the picture on the right, I hear my husband from behind, "...You're taking pictures of your hair, again?" "Yes. If I don't, my sister won't believe me." "Believe what?", he asked. "My hair. Look at it", I say while bringing it up to show him, "it looks good. "It always looks good", he replied. You see, how lucky I am... He is mostly sugar.

He had asked the question about my hair because as we were getting ready to run, I said with a giant smile, arrogant demeanor and tone, "oh, wait, I want to get a picture of us in our starting positions to remind you of my awesomeness..." I know, I know, I'm embarrassed for me, too. I definitely have a reminder, alright. His awesomeness.

The second set of pictures were to text my sister. We were blessed with uncooperative hair in the presence of moisture and humidity. She would want to see this rarity.

This is my typical look on rainy and humid days.

Not in spring, summer, or fall (my hair seems to only love warm/dry weather) But, too much beach and sun makes me sport this look:

I think mother nature was being kind to me. It was her way of spreading girl power. Our soul sisters are awesome when we need a pick me up. Mother nature often comes through for me, so she's one of mine. If I was going to be bummed about my leg and think up ways to up the ante on my training, I was going to do it while feeling stylish... Plus, injuries, always get me extra love from my boys...