on the iPod: "jessica" -- the allman brothers band
It's the latter half of June and the abundant sunshine, time away from work, soaring temperatures, and crisp morning air are perfect for running, which is what I would normally be doing. But because of a stupid, nagging case of plantar fasciitis i'm finding my days spent doing anything other than running. Here's a short compilation of activities that not only do I detest, but have found myself engulfed in while waiting for my right foot to not hurt like hell anymore: sitting around, driving in traffic, watching daytime television, thinking about everybody else running, more sitting around, dusting the house, laundry, and dental work. Yep. That's what i've been doing.
But June hasn't been all that bad, as while I've been waiting out the aforementioned stupid injury i've also been able to bide my time with things I do enjoy: drinking coffee in the quiet of early morning, swimming in the heat of the day, getting lost in music on my back deck at night, and reading, most notably A Separate Peace by John Knowles. And it's not as if I've completely walked away from running, but rather severely cut back the mileage in an effort to let my foot rest. I've never dealt with any sort of injury before, but pretty much every possible expert is of the opinion that a decrease in mileage is paramount to kicking it.
Having expressed all that, and sufficiently playing the pity card, the Cancer Challenge 10K over the weekend was too tempting to pass up. I had run it last year for the first time and had a great outing, so it was a no-brainer to register again this year. Staged in Bentonville's Orchards Park, directly across from Crystal Bridges, the race was a loop course that traversed through a few high-end neighborhoods interspersed with an access road and a really large incline on Tiger Boulevard. The corral was full of running friends, including but not limited to Carole Swope, Mrs. Murie and her sister Janet, Jamie Huneycutt, and various BHS students. All were prepared for a great outing and morning of running, despite the temperature already being in low 80's when the gun went off.
I'm not for sure which was worse: the hills, the lack of shade, or the heat, but to say the race was tough would be an understatement. It was a killer. Of course Jamie finished ahead of me and was waiting at the finish line with a cold washcloth and smile on her face. We both yelled and carried on about how damn hot it was, feigning as if we were put out by the whole event, but secretly knowing that we loved every mile. And that's the truth: regardless of hills, heat, blisters, injury, sweat, all of it, I so very much love to run. I'll do it anytime and anywhere.
Next up is the Chicago Rock-N-Roll Half Marathon in late July and I'm already preparing myself for 13.1 miles of full-on summer heat, but I can't help but smile when I think about it. It'll be great to see my friends Jason and Sarah and be there when Sarah crosses the finish line in her first half. In the interim, i'll try to lay low around here to give my right foot more time to heal, but i'm making no promises. I can only watch Judge Judy and dust the coffee table for so long, and then I just throw my hands in the air out of disgust and lace up.
Run.
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