Words of Wisdom

Bullseye and I are BOTH injured, as you already know. (I'm actually on the mend and doing quite well now, thank you. No more limping. I was able to jog/walk 4.3 miles yesterday and didn't pay for it with severe pain today, which I feared would be the result. Bullseye has a different story to tell though - she's suffering.)

We are signed up to do the Hazel Dell Half Marathon next weekend. We are BOTH struggling with the idea of doing anything LESS than the half and thought we would just run what we could and walk what we couldn't. Sounds reasonable, right? We've walked many halfs in the past! Well, as much as we WANT to do it and want to tell ourselves to "suck it up", we know deep down inside that we shouldn't. We have been on the "injured list" for weeks now. But we still WAAAAANT to do it! So... Bullseye sent a little note to our Coach stating that she didn't think stepping down to the 8k (4.97 miles) event - as suggested - to do "5 MEASLY miles" was going to be very satisfying. She said she was too competitive (with herself, of course) and knew she could do more but she was frustrated with the pain. (Just as we're both on the same injured list, we have the same mindset too!)

We went to training last night and did well, although we were not up to speed. We decided that since we were walking/jogging without too much trouble and weren't limping with every step, we would just go ahead and do the half next weekend and worry about the outcome later! We know, we're tough!

Today, our fabulous and very wise Coach sent her own little email back to Bullseye and it said this:

"As far as doing the half vs the 8k. What is your main goal for the year? Will doing the half help you reach that goal or will it potentially keep you from reaching that goal?

If your main goal is to RUN the Vancouver half in June, will pushing your body, that is already fighting injury, to go 13.1 miles when you are not trained for it, make it more or less likely that you will be able to safely continue to train towards that goal?

If your main goal for this year is to complete the half on February 24th, then you should do it.

I have no doubt you could do the half marathon on February 24th, but why put your body through that? Do the 8k - RUN the 8k - celebrate your first race that you run. Let your body continue to heal and look forward to the next four months of getting stronger and faster.

That's my advice! Let me know your thoughts."

Damn. Why does she have to be so darn smart?! Not only did she challenge us to THINK about what we were doing, she also left it up to us to make the final decision, which we KNOW shouldn't be to do the half.

Point taken.

We're doing the 8k. We're going to run it, embrace it, and celebrate it!

Thanks Coach! You're awesome! That's why we love you! ;)