TheBanyanTree: Frozen in Water

[Julie Anna Teague]

Quoting "Margaret R. Kramer" <margaretkramer at comcast.net>:

> I ran a good race, for me, a turtle.  I didn’t get tired.  I set a good pace
> and stuck with it.  Everything just worked.  I got too hot and took off some
> of my layers, but other than sweating a lot, I was OK.

Good for you, Margaret.  I'm trying on the whole "no lame excuses" 
thing myself this winter.  I used to be a tough-as-nails runner in my 
twenties, putting in twenty or thirty miles of hilly terrain a week, 
running every 10K I could run, a half marathon every year, and even a 
marathon once.  Running was my identity, and so I just did it, hot or 
cold, rain or sun, week in and week out.

Then life interfered: babies, surgeries, back problems, blah blah blah. 
  I've tried to get back into running a few times but just had so much 
back and knee pain, I either gave up or kept it to a mile or two every 
now and then. No excuse was too petty to keep me from running, 
especially when it came to the weather--too hot, too cold, whatever.  
But there is a sense of freedom, empowerment, and calm that comes over 
me when I run that I don't get from anything else, and I missed it, 
really really missed it, and always thought I'd try to find a way to 
come back to running.  I had knee surgery and I went to an amazing 
osteopath to get my back issues worked on, and about a year ago, a work 
buddy and I decided to encourage each other to run more seriously again 
by running together several times a week.  Before, I was mostly a 
solitary runner, but it helped to have someone to keep me going.  Funny 
how that works, because she swears it was me who was keeping her going. 
  So from the ashes of my former 20-something self, is born this 48 
year old woman who is starting, tenatively, to call herself a "runner" 
again.  It feels amazing.

One of my last hurdles was weather.  About 80 percent of the time in 
Indiana, the conditions for running are not all that perfect.  But I 
decided to force myself out into whatever conditions I was given, just 
do it, stop complaining.  Last summer we ran in the stifling heat and 
humidity, and this winter in the cold.  I've run on ice, on snow, in a 
cold sleeting rain, slopped through mud, and just whatever.  And I've 
pretty much enjoyed it all (although I still fear the heat more, and it 
hurts more).  One thing that helped me keep going this winter was to 
get some YakTrax which go on the botttom of your shoes and give you 
traction through ice and snow.  They are pretty awesome in very adverse 
conditions.  I feel like I am embracing the winter in a healthier way, 
getting more fresh air, not feeling quite so down on these glum, 
sunless, cold days.

My running friend, Tanya, and I are currently training to do a half 
marathon in April.  I honestly don't know if my back and knees are 
going to hold up for this, but I'm going to give it a shot.  I've 
worked my way back up to six miles at a go, but it hurts.  Three or 
four miles feels good, though.  Another friend of ours is a breast 
cancer survivor, having gone through chemo, double mastectomy, and two 
additional surgeries in the past year.  She chose walking this half 
marathon as a goal in her own healing process and wanted a team of 
supporters to do it with her.  Tanya and I decided we could also do 
with a challenging goal, and we also wanted to be part of her team.  
Lots and lots of miles to go between here and there.  And except for 
the parts that hurt (and part of EVERY run hurts), I am loving this 
time of finding my inner runner again.  Some days I still feel like a 
slow moving slogger. Some days I totally want to quit.  But most of the 
time, it is a wonderful thing.

Run on,

Julie