Week 11: Get Over It! Sometimes our Plans Don’t Match What Life Brings

Week 11 is officially done and this has actually been my lowest mileage week. It was really not by choice. After last weeks 20 mile run I ended up coming down with what I thought was a cold but it ended up being a sinus infection. Needless to say it was both frustrating and disappointing because I had actually taken this past week off from work to get some work done on a course I will be teaching this summer and to also get some running in outside during the week. Once again I was reminded that even with planning we are not always in control of things as much as we would like to be. While it was frustrating and disappointing, a sinus infection is not the worst of things for sure and at least I had taken the week of so I was able to get the rest I needed. So this week I only logged 13.1 miles and I did then all today during the Hyannis Half Marathon. The course was beautiful but I felt pretty horrible for the majority of the run. However, the good side was I was running with a friend from college-Annie G. Here is a picture of us after we finished and had changed.

Fundraising Update:

 As of today, $10,861 has been posted to my fundraising website. However, when I arrived home there was also an envelope waiting for me with another $250 check which places the total fundraising for this week to $11,111. It was so great to come home to a donation after a very challenging run. I love when these reminders appear and bring me back to why I am running!! This means we are $1,989 dollars away from the new goal of $13,100. Can we raise another $2000 in 49 days? Well, if I finished the race today with as bad as I felt, I would say “yes, it is definitely possible.”

So once again, I really just want to express my complete gratitude for the incredible generosity of so many friends, family, and supporters. This would not be possible without all of your support. We really are dreaming a world without cancer one mile and one donation at a time. I truly am so inspired by our collective conscious not only recognizing that we can make a difference, but bringing that awareness to action. We are one strong team-there is no doubt about that.

Sometimes our plans don’t match what life brings

 As I drove home from the Cape today, I kept thinking about what lingering thoughts I could possibly write about in my blog this week. After all, today I felt like a big wimp today. However, I am a firm believer that there is a lesson to be extracted from even not so great runs which I am discovering because lately I have had more “not so great runs.” I am so due for a good one soon.  I didn’t actually do that bad for me in the half marathon. My time was 2:04:15 which translates into a 9:29 minute mile. This is a good pace and actually what I often run at for a longer distance. However, today was a very sloppy run for me and it was more how I felt. I was all over the place. I felt horrible for most of it and probably had to stop about 6 times in the second half because I actually kept feeling dizzy. I think this was a result of not being hydrated enough and having been sick. Perhaps the antibiotic was also playing a part. Who knows?  So if my week was disappointing because I did not get the running and work done that I wanted to, today’s half marathon was the frosting on the cake.

I do always try to look at things from a place of gratitude and this week certainly needs a bit of re-framing. First, I was sick this week but I was able to be sick and to rest. I was fortunate to have taken the week of anyway. I am also fortunate to access to health care and to the medicine that I needed to get better. Also, feeling terrible while running a half marathon that is looking at the scenic Atlantic Ocean is also not a bad thing. So what? I had to stop a bunch of times. I didn’t break 2 hours like I would have expected after all the training I have been doing but I had the opportunity to run with a friend from college who was very patient with me. I was really not a fun person to run with today. Thanks Annie G! Next week will be better for sure!

Get Over It

As I drove home from the Cape the lingering lesson for me this week was -get over it! Life does not always happen as we plan it. The more time we spend frustrated about it the more we remain in our own way. It is actually pretty freeing when we can simply accept that things are not always what we expected or hoped for because then we can actually appreciate what actually transpired. It is really amazing what re-framing can do. Suddenly I found myself in a place of feeling proud of my sloppy run. After all, I was not feeling well and I still managed to get out there and run a half marathon and to keep at it even though I felt horrible. I will add the disclaimer that I did stop when I did not feel well because I also recognize there is a fine line between pushing through something and not making wise choices. I think I balanced this line pretty well today. The only thing that I really would do differently is to have carried my own water bottle. This way I could have kept hydrated better.

I am looking forward to getting back to work and a week of feeling stronger. I will gladly get my miles in this week and I look forward to Stu’s 30K race in Clinton next Sunday. This is a very hilly and challenging course and I will be ready for it! Or as ready as I can be! I also end this week and look forward to next week filled with gratitude for our many successes on the fundraising front! We are really making such great strides and that is actually the driving force behind all this running. To think that we have passed 10K and are now less than 2K away from a total of $13.1K to support cancer research.  This is where the real progress is made. Enjoy the week!

With gratitude,

Kerry D