The Boston Skinny...

Hi Everyone,
I just wanted to say thanks for your emails, texts and wishes.  I've been licking my wounds and just trying to chill from the WEEKEND of many issues and "special" events.

First off, I have to congratulate those Boston runners who did such a great job and had such wonderful races.  I was inspired through your training and your racing, it is truly a treat to be a blogger and to learn from everyone else out there.  Thanks for sharing your fun, your secrets and your training. You all inspire, thanks for that...

If anyone is out there reading this,  I have to say that this may be LONG and boring but if there's one thing I can say about blogging, it is therapeutic and more than once, it has helped me through a rough patch with parenting, running and just living.  THANKS to those of you who share your advice, I appreciate you all!!  Basically, I'm saying that this post is more for ME than you.  We'll see how much I delete before pushing PUBLISH POST...

THE RACE:
All my training for this race happened in 11 weeks.  Previously, I had been injured at NYC but I did finish that race and ran it well, despite my planter facitis pain which later, turned into IT BAND pain, tendon pain, etc.  I rested for 7 weeks and felt strong enough to tackle Boston.  The training went better than ever, faster than ever and I was truly ready for this race.  The 11 weeks went by quickly.

The race started off well.  I looked for fellow bloggers in my corral but no one looked familiar. My plan was to start off slower than my goal pace and just let my body warm up.  It is always very crowded and boxed in at the beginning of this race but I liked the idea of taking it easy and picking up the pace as the crowd dispersed a bit.  This really didn't happen as quickly as I would have liked but it did keep me from going out too fast. I felt rested, happy and calm about this race and it was just a great start with some awesome, sunny and semi-warm weather.

Hmmm...that feeling of RAINBOWS, CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM and SUNSHINE lasted about 13-14 miles.  At about this point,  I started to get a strange burning sensation along the top of my foot(yes, the evil foot).  I had never felt this type of pain so I just kind of ignored it, thinking it was something temporary.  Silly me.  Every two miles(every med tent),  I was able to get some type of deep tissue work so that I could actually walk and get back out on the course.  The final med tent happened to have a physio who reminded me of B. from B Project, the place where BS and I go for strength training and physio work.  This volunteer tweaked my foot which had seized up from the toes to the shins,  and suddenly everything felt better...until I hit the road and it happened again.

OK, at this point I had a decision to make.
I knew I couldn't hit my desired pace.  I had tried and it just made the pain much worse. Jogging anywhere between 9:00-11:00 was all I could do.
Could I endure 9 to 10 more miles at that pace?

Truly, I'm no hero but I am tough so I knew that quitting wasn't an option.  Suddenly, I changed my focus to the other people around me, their journeys, their stories and the run took on another flavor.

Sure, it wasn't what I had intended to have happen.  It wasn't "the plan."  But I've learned over the years that MY PLAN is sometimes insignificant.  I can put a dream or a goal out there, do my best to pull it off, work hard and embrace the experience but the outcomes are sometimes HUGE SURPRISES,  UNEXPECTED and many times, OUT OF MY CONTROL.  Imagine that.

The Boston Play Book was different this year.  I walked away with some FUN memories of stalking the elites at the expo,  dining with track club friends, eating some incredible meals,  meeting some very special bloggers,  and running with some very inspiring people. No regrets.

I returned home LATE TUesday night,  woke up at 5:45 a.m. and hit the ground running again,  It has been RODEO DAYS this week with the Pretzels and ponies, ducks hatching, and campfire sing alongs have filled our days.  I haven't had a ton of time to even think about last Monday....which is probably a good thing.

The Pretzels Milk the Saw Horse COw...that's how we roll in Urban California!

I let goats eat kids' hair...it's so entertaining!  Even Cowgirl R. thinks it's funny.  Two weeks before spring break she cut her own hair at home(oops!),  how is she going to explain this one to her mom?


Where will I go from here?

I saw my physio B. and he worked on my seized up foot for an hour and a half.  It was the most painful work I've ever had done but it feels better!  I can even give a three mile trot a try tomorrow and I'll go from there.

Chris K. from The Manly Runner has challenged me to a 5k race on May 14th so I am determined to heal up by then.

I think this is going to be okay...

Once again,  thanks so much.
meg