Running Free

I don't know why yesterday's post has arrows on it; I didn't do anything different, not do I know how to get them removed. Oh well. . .on to today.

I ran 3 in 30:06, and I'm very proud of myself I might say. This is better than I did a year ago, pre-pneumonia (and I'm sure you're getting bored about hearing everything in terms of pre- and post-pneumonia, but it's my new base line, my latest start-over point). Pre-pneumonia I was running 5Ks somewhere around 8:45 to 9:30 pace in spite of slow training runs.

At the beginning of the year, I put a sticky note in my running journal with 2010's fastest runs in it, and today's 3-mile track run was also a 2010 best (not that we're very far into the year, but my motto for this year is "back again in 2010"). Both the 2009-2010 comparison and the sticky note indicate that I truly am getting better.

But running is actually fun again also and it has been for a couple weeks. Many days I find myself lost inside my head working out a problem, planning the day, or just thinking things through. And that's important, too.

Today I ran on the track and enjoyed being lost inside my head, not worried about time but just running to run. And the time was one of the better ones anyway. Sometimes the best runs are the relaxed runs, where you just let the legs fly and enjoy being free.

Flooding in western Virginia

According to news reports this morning, heavy rains yesterday and today of up to 1/2 inch to 1 inch per hour feel causing flooding in the area. Parts of neighboring Augusta County were evacuated. On this morning's run, the ditches were full of rushing water. Streams flowed and springs burst forth where none were before. Earthworms were flushed from their burrows and onto the road where they met their demise. We met a high school runner out running; area schools are cancelled. I smelled the spray of a skunk (did it think it could frighten away the torrential rains?).All reminded me of the disaster in Haiti and the flooding in other parts of the county. Except for thoughts of concern for those less fortunate that floated through my head, the ion loaded, rain-cleaned air and temperatures in the mid-50s made for an especially good run.

Nearly Forgotten End of 2009 Running Tallies

Total miles run this year (year 6): 658.5

Total miles run: 3,165.0

Races run this year: 31

# of states run in: 5 Florida, Maryland, New York, Virgnia, West Virginia

Race lengths: 1 mile to Half Marathon (13.1 miles)

Charities sponsored: many including youth groups and programs; autism, breast cancer and heart research; domestic violence awareness; literacy and the 116th Infantry.

The Dress

It is finished! After about a month of working with me or her friends, Anna Maria finished this dress, which she wore to a friends' wedding Saturday. It took the two of us together three hours just to blind stitch the rolled hem! Though I made both daughters' wedding dresses and the dresses for their wedding parties, I haven't worked with velvet since high school. The technique did come back to me quickly. Just like riding a bike, there are some things a person never forgets (although I did occasionally check my memory against instructions in the "Simply the Best Sewing Book" by Simplicity).

The project provided time for problem solving when the dress lining didn't fit quite right after the first trial and time to just chat while the sewing machine whirred or the needles whipped through the soft cloth. Team work.

Would I have worked on such a project had my daughter not needed the help? Probably not. My sewing machine has been idle for the last year and a half. But as I've learned through running with partners and as the dress project reminded me, a partner helps you keep going when the going gets tough and helps fulfill dreams you never even dared to dream.

Recovery

In April 2009, I spent three days in the hospital with pneumonia. It was the week before a paid-for half marathon. When I asked the doctor if I'd still be able to run the race, he said I could do whatever my body felt like doing. I took that to be a yes. But once I got home I realized I couldn't even walk one block. The race was out. Instead I watched from the sidelines as my friends ran it.

Because the amount of damage to my lungs was unseen, I didn't understand just how much fitness I had lost. I figured I'd bounce back quickly. Every day I added a bit more distance; a week after my hospital stay I could run 1/4 block. Two days later I ran two miles, which was stupid. On the April 23rd, about two weeks after my hospital stay, I thought I could build up my speed again; another failure to face reality. I was racing by April 25th, and continuing to work on speed and distances (I ran seven miles on May 19).

By July 9th I was coughing again, and on the 25th I learned I had pleurisy and crackles in my lungs again. Once again I tried to run myself well in spite of chest pain. I ran a 5K in August at 28:27, near my pre-pneumonia pace. By October I was coughing and fighting lung pain again. This time it was bronchitis.

Finally I came to realize that I'd just keep relapsing if I didn't slow down and accept my post-pneumonia pace and distance. A review of my log shows a continuing struggle with lung pain; but also more instances of races not run, efforts at running slower when the lungs hurt and a concentration on keeping the breathing steady. I was learning to listen to my body and accept my physical state.

And that's when things also began to improve. I ran more and had to walk less. Sometimes, on a bad day, I only ran two miles. Once I ran a slow five miles. But I was running an entire three miles more and more consistently. Then on New Year's Eve I ran a hard sub-30 minute mile and still felt well afterward. The following week, in spite of wind child temperatures in the teens, I ran with little lung pain. Once I started listening to my body, I actually started getting better.

Runner's World repeatedly talks about coming back from an injury or illness slowly. Actually doing so is much harder, as it's very difficult to figure out exactly how much damage has been done, how slow to go and what distances to run. Sometimes, as I came to realize, the damage can be far greater than once expects. Coming back can take a lot longer than a person wants to accept. It's easy to deny reality and try to run yourself well. But that doesn't work.

In running, as in life, you must determine where you are before you can go somewhere else with purpose and direction.