Old Friends Are New Again

I haven’t been blogging and I haven’t been able to run with the group. I’ve had a calf injury that has sidelined me and slowed me down around June 15th. It got better and then eventually required a sports doctor and physical therapy. Then I was sick on top of it so for two weeks I barely ran at all. I picked back up at 7.3 miles on July 12th. This was my first group run since then. And we went double digits. I was so nervous. I barely slept. Decided at 2am I wasn’t doing the run. Woke up at 5am and felt strong enough. Realized that if ever I was going to be successful at running long distance, it would be today. It was in the 60’s and low humidity. The weather and the power of the group made it happen for me. It was good to be there with the group again. I did it. I ran. I eventually ended up in the back of the line. The “bike guy” who stays at the back of the pack and makes sure there are no strays. I also chatted with a number of nice women who I never would have met with had I not been slow. My leg hurt slightly throughout the run. But not enough to make me stop. My ipod died at mile 4 so I had no musical crutch to lean upon. We ran by Brown’s Island. I was all alone. But eventually I caught back up with the group. As I reached the last 1.5 miles on Boulevard I started chatting with one of the back of the pack women I had met earlier. I looked at her and she was so familiar. I said I know you… she asked my maiden name, Brodie. Turns out she grew up in the same neighborhood as I did and we used to hang out in Junior High School and get into trouble. There were a number of others in the neighborhood… Nancy C., Jimbo, Pam B., Todd G., Ted R., Whitley C., and Nancy P. now T. and myself who have just reunited after 30 years. Many mornings spent together waiting at the bus stop. For good reason (trouble), my mother banned me from going to their bus stop. I would hide behind the bushes in the morning until she drove by on her way to her nurses position at the third floor of Chippenham Hospital Tuckers Pavillion as a nurse. Nancy and I chatted about Ted R. who had died suddenly of a heart attack when he was 36. I couldn’t believe I ran into her. I was struck by the absolute feeling that there are no accidents. Running into Nancy again after so long. We are on the same training team. We are both going through a divorce. And now life has brought us back together. It felt ordained. Wow this marathon training is definitely giving me so much more than I could ever have imagined. Even though it has sucked to be sick and away from the group constantly wondering if I could even get to the STARTING line ready for a marathon. This run was the first time I really got the feeling of what it is like to run long distance. I had no idea what mile I was at and didn’t ask. I really focused on the moment. Most of my earlier runs have been about doing this or that mile and when is it over? If you are going to run long distance you have to focus on what you are going through now. I really learned that lesson today. I’m sure that “be here now” will continually butt heads with “where is the finish line” throughout my marathon training. Especially as the miles increase. I walked away for the first time with the feeling that it may be possible for me to run a marathon after all. I just did half. That’s what it is about. Relax. Slow down. It was so hard to run and yet it wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be.