Knowing when to say "when"

Well, it happened. The inevitable? Perhaps. I was hoping not. I now have developed tendinitis in my left leg. I have had this before and it's real challenge to treat. It's one of those things that you just have to let rest, and yes, resting means NO RUNNING. I was out today for a hill work out, which starts with a 3 mile run and sure enough, mid-run, there it was. Now, I am running in new shoes and they don't have the heel lifts in them as I had in my other shoes. I had heard once that this was helpful for those that develop tendinitis. So, perhaps I will put the heel inserts in the new shoes and see if that helps.

But right now, my real challenge is to let it rest. If I run for the next few days straight, I could really put myself out of the race completely. As someone told me recently, " all the work outs in the world don't mean a damn if you don't get to the line healthy."

So, on my run today, I listened and said, "Ok, I give." I stopped ( which I never do) and walked the rest of the way home ( I was almost there but it's a big deal to me).

I will ice, rest and do some gentle yoga for the next few days. I can take a few days off now.. it's only July.

Take care of your body!

Be well.

A day of sports for the Ages

Today I am listening to my body and taking a rest day. After my long run yesterday late afternoon, I woke up with soreness in my calves. I took a long walk with the dog this morning and did a little bit of light yoga.

I am still so inspired by the sporting events this weekend. Dara Torres, who, at 41, is going off to her fifth Olympics; Michael Phelps securing his way into five Olympic events in Bejing and who will ever forget the epic match yesterday between Raphel Nadal and Roger Federer. I taped the final minutes and the ceremony afterwards and will watch it several times again. It is a true picture of two people giving all that that have, and more, and then afterwards, showing nothing but grace to not only each other, but to their family and their supporters. It was truely a gift to watch and an inspiration to everyone who saw it.

Tomorrow I will be back on the road but today is a day to take care of my body.

Getting back to business

I'm home back in Boston today from the long holiday weekend. I did a long run today and felt like it was back to business, being in my own area and running the paths that are so familiar to me. I did about 10 and felt okay but my body feels tired. I started getting feedback from a running coach associated with the Baystate marathon. I confessed to him in an email that I'm only taking one day off per week and I worry that I should be taking at least two days off but I feel panicked when I don't run. I know, not a healthy feeling. It felt good to 'admit' it in my email to him, almost like I was admitting I had a problem of much more serious consequences. Regardless, I will await his reply and will take his words to heart.

Tomorrow is Monday and back to business in full force.

The Run at Home

I'm visiting my family this holiday weekend and I have a regular route when I am home. It's not very long; only about 4 miles, but it gets the job done and keeps me running. Right now, I feel like it's more about running regularly than necessarily running long distances ( although I have built that into the plan regardless).

My runs at home are usually not very fast because for some reason I eat huge amounts of food and lots of sweets when I am there! So, the runs usually reflect how my body feels and today was no different. There's something about being home that is comforting and I just feel comfortable and, well, who cares if you have dessert? So, usually, there are movies to see, popcorn to eat, dessert to have, barbeques, italian food.. the list goes on and on. There's a popular Boston chef, Jasper White, and his motto is " Food is love." It's not the only kind of love, but certainly cooking and eating together is an expression of love in my family-- but in a healthy way, mind you.

The other thing I discovered when I was home yesterday was the joy of doing nothing. I watched men's quarterfinals of Wimbledon, sat by the pool, went in the pool, did some yoga outside, read my books and magazines and it was just delicious. I felt a little guilty at first, but then quickly gave up that feeling. The other thing I discovered was a foot bath. Yes, my blisters I've developed are concerning me, and my dad had one of those bubbling foot baths you can buy at Bed Bath and Beyond. We put a epsom salt based foot soak powder in it and three times yesterday I soaked my feet and afterwards, put special blister band-aids on the sore spots. It worked miracles. I have never had blisters before, am running in new shoes ( but they appeared before I started using the new shoes) and am using body glide on them and have great socks. So it's a mystery why I have developed them but I am hell bent on getting rid of them. So, lesson learned- invest in a foot bath, even if you don't have blisters. It just feels heavenly.

I am back to Boston tomorrow and looking forward to the Men's finals of Wimbledon and a long run.

Be well.

When you wish upon a Star

My running today ( a 1 hour moderate pace run) took me through the streets of Boston. I decided I needed good scenery to keep me engaged in the process. I ran by a women's boutique with a window display of three pink tulle dresses under a banner with the message "When you wish upon a Star." Disney created some of my favorite movies and pink is my favorite color, so I found myself smiling. Wishing is a beautiful thing. I can remember when I was a little girl, I wanted this doll. I think it was called Baby Tender Love. At the time, I was very into watching "Bewitched." I used to walk to a local mall in my neighborhood and wiggle my nose and wish that when I got around the corner, I'd see the box with the doll inside. Even though it never happened, it didn't stop me from wishing. Then, as I got older, the wishes changes from thoughts of dolls to thoughts of other things; things about life, love and family.

Wishing is really another way of saying, " I believe." I believe in a lot of things. I think of that speech that Kevin Costner's character says in Bull Durham to Susan Sarandon's character..all the things he "believes in." And believing is another way of saying, " I have faith." Faith that things will work out, faith that you can do what you believe you can, faith that good things will come to you if your heart is in the right place.

I have faith that I can run a marathon in the fall. I have faith that some of the things I wish for in my life will come true. I believe that things are perfect just as they are and that on this sunny morning,before the fourth of July, that all is well with the world.

Tomorrow is a holiday. It will be a day of rest from running for me. Take time to relax and rest, eat well and have fun. Enjoy some festivities. Happy Fourth of July.

How to give when your cup is empty

I woke up today with no intention of running. I was so tired I didn't think I could. I thought of taking a day off, which I will, but with the holiday this week, I am expecting with my travels my running schedule may get a bit challenging. I figured I'd get in a run today, even if it was slow and steady.

I figured a recovery type run would make sense. After the hills yesterday, I deserve it. So I started slow. As I started going, after about a mile I felt good. Then, two miles... felt better. Then 3 and I was in tempo pace (I know, running coaches out there, I should be taking it easy). I ended up doing negative splits ( faster second half of the 5 mile run then the first) and felt great. It reminded me of a quote from well known yoga teacher BKS Iyengar, " Yoga students do their best postures when they are the most exhausted." I've never seen him say that, but one of my favorite yoga teachers often quoted Iyengar and worked with him directly. I thought of that quote as I started to run. In the context of yoga, we talk about how when the resistance of the body and mind is broken down ( not the spirit, mind you) the body can move in a more fluid way. The same for running or any athletic endeavor, really. Take away the resistance and you get flow. In yoga , it's called "vinyasa," or the sanskrit word for "flow." You've probably felt it in your life.. think of a time when you were doing something and time stood still, or you weren't even thinking of time at all. For many people, it comes with times when they were in nature, or performing in some sporting event, or watching sports or some other kind of amazing performance.. or being with someone you love, or watching a child..all these things can bring you into flow.

The next time you don't think you can give anymore, just try it. See what you can give. Sometimes you have more to give then you think. And as they say, often it's the "thinking" that gets in the way. Get out of your head, into your body, and just do it.

Friends

Today was a hill work out day. One of my favorite runs takes me around the river and then down Charles Street and up the steady incline to the State house. I then run back to my neighborhood and run one of the big hills there 3-5 times. Today as I was doing the hill intervals, I saw one of my friends and local yoga colleagues. She is also training for a marathon in the fall. Even though we didn't say much ( she was off to do her track workout) it was great to see her up and ready to go. We both share a love of yoga and running and I felt a kinship to her as I saw her off to her morning workout and I continued with mine.

After my last incline, as I was walking down the hill for the short run home, I saw one of the local moms with her daughter and son. Her daughter comes to my kid yoga class and is one of my favorites. She was walking with her doll, Catherine and she amicably chatted with me as we all walked down the street. "Mom," she said with authority, "Sally asked me if we could get together today for a play date." " Well, that sounds like a nice idea," her mom said. ( Keep in mind this is coming from a 4 year old). It made my heart just swell with joy to hear her speak so clearly and express so honestly a desire to see her friend.

Friends are a wonderful thing. Take some time today and connect with one of yours.

Be well.