Third place female is ... Question Mark????

I think the spring of 2014 will forever linger in my memory as the year I had bronchitis for 5 weeks, maybe 6. It's not that I don't get sick, it's just that I haven't been really sick like that since 1998.

As with many things in life, I didn't realize how sick I was until after the storm had passed. I started to notice how much energy I had for everything. Work, house work, laundry and yes, my running.

February and March were supposed to be a giant build up to racing in April. February went pretty well, but well March was a wash- so April became an experiment.

Based on past training failures, I wanted to make sure I didn't lose a month of training by doing something stupid. Because I wheezed through March, I couldn't exactly afford to taper for any of the April races, so I made them all training runs.

• Rockin' K I drop down to the marathon from the 50.
• I continue training through the week and the weekend before Free State I run 16 on Saturday and 20 on Sunday out at Clinton. That's right . No taper.
• You all know how Free State went (thanks for reading.)
• The next weekend: 16 on Saturday at Clinton and 25 on Sunday.

Back for more. Or back to back for more. Back to back runs, an essential in training for 100's. Something I have just simply not done in the past.. or if I did, it is a distant memory from 2008.

2008 Sophia. So strong, so on fire for life, running , with relentless desire to improve at anything she took on.

Truth is, I have asthma. It developed in 2007, but because of 2008 Sophia's accomplishments and  2011, I thought it was gone. I convinced myself that it "returned" in 2012, but the truth is, it's always been there, just my training from August 2012 to January 2014 was pretty sketchy. A good long run here or there and some races where I always took the weekend before and after (maybe 2) off. Terrible, resulting in some average performances and ultimately a DNF at Leadville 2013. (the photo below is from 2012.. I don't have any from 2013, but I like photos in blogs, especially long blogs)

The worst was I could remember the fire I had for running. The drive and the love. Being tired when the alarm rang at 5, but lusting to be out running with my friends. I missed it so much.

I knew just getting out there running would make me feel better, but too often I just rolled over, curled into the fetal position and went back to sleep. There were moments here and there. Rockin' K in 2013 was good, as was Rock On Perry 2013 and even the summer night race-- but training in between? Bah humbug.I don't think I ran a single hill. Other races felt out of sync, a-rhythmic and weighted. (I can't find the picture of me on my bike, so here's Puccini.)

 On top of that,  I started cross training on the mountain bike. In a sense, fun to learn a new sport and challenging-- but it's not cross training if you aren't doing a solid regimen of the first sport. My first sport is running, and it was seriously slipping. My mind didn't seem to be doing much better.

My friend Emily was explaining to me once that there are 4 stages employees go through.

1. Learning the job. Sometimes confusing, but interesting.
2. You know how to do the job, it's challenging, but fun.
3. Bored and frustrated. Looking for new challenges.
4. Enlightenment. Trust from superiors.

A lot of employers lose valuable employees in stage 3.
Emily:

 

I feel athletes, especially runners go through a similar schedule with running. I had been looping in stage 3 for way too long. The stage three time warp needed to stop, but where would it lead?
February 2014:
Goal: get the running to more of a "therapeutic level." Seriously folks, this wasn't about race goals, fast times, negative splits or longer distances. It was more like, getting out of bed and not moving to the couch.

It would be lovely to say that I was seeking enlightenment, set up a tidy little spreadsheet and achieved it-- truth is, it was more like survival. There was nothing pretty about how I got to where I am today. In fact, more often than not, if I made a plan of how many miles I would run over the weekends and ended up short. Plans of doing 30 kept falling short at 18. I was disappointed, the little voice in my head was disappointed. Some of my friends were disappointed. But others were encouraging, and that meant the world to me.

I made a pact with myself to make sure I ran at every test run, even if it was only 2 miles and I did. I got back into a routine of running with friends on the weekends, quickly realizing that if it weren't for them, I would not be getting in the mileage, that entertaining the idea that I would go out on my own for a 20 miler was simply not going to happen. I'll tell you what. Realizing that was really powerful, because I stopped wasting energy planning mileage that was never going to happen. Instead, I planned my travel, so I would have those reliable friends there to run. And if it worked out that I could do a back to back a week before 100k, I was on it. And the week after-- When I ran 25 with Kurt, I ran most of the hills. That's what 2008 Sophia did--RAN the little hills at Clinton. Sure it's only 1100 feet over 25 miles, but if you run those babies, you get strong. And if your lungs suck, having strong legs are to your advantage. (This morning I blew 400 on the thingy from the doctor. Normal runners pop out 600.) I had done a 50 mile week right after running 100k that was preceeded by back to back long runs.

That brings us to this past weekend. 18 at Lake Perry with the beautiful Heather Cotton and a gal named Aly we ran into (and her dog Spot). We finished and I totally wanted to do a couple more, even though it was getting warm. The itch to run had returned.

The next day, I had the choice of driving to Shawnee Mission Park to do 9 with Bryan, Terri, Janee` and Brian with an "I" or go to Clinton, run the Shoreline Shuffle 5k and do some miles with Emily after. The shorter drive and longer mileage option was Clinton, so I dragged myself out of bed, again noting that without a friend, I most likely would have turned over and got to the park.

I Nascar'd it in with 4 minutes to spare, threw a blank check at Carl the RD and grabbed my number.
                

Emily had already run the course once (dang that meant she didn't want to do as many miles after??!! I feared I'd have another weekend like the failed attempts at mileage in February...) she wanted to run fast (always). I was really there more for the camaraderie and less for speed, plus I feared taxing the lungs could trigger a relapse, so I just ran it easy, which somehow landed me 3rd place female-- but my name had never been written down due to my late entrance.

" Third place female is Question Mark?" Carl seemed confused. I knew what had happened.
"That's me.. Exclamation POINT!!!"
Reminded me of this Georgia Satellites classic:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFpsDAL4oKE

Emily ran 4 miles with me. February of 2014 Sophia probably would have called it a day- but it's not February, it's May. She trotted up the steps to go skydiving and I carried on.
Reminds me of a FUN song that runs through my head on good and bad days alike:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7yCLn-O-Y0
My rhythm returned. I kept the challenges within reach, running blue first because it was shorter and easier. By the time I got to mile 2, I was ready to return on the longer more technical white trail, ending the day with a total of 17 miles.

May 7, 2014: 7 am. I'm in Omaha. The last time I was here, I skipped my solo run which you know by now, was not an uncommon occurrence. It's hot. I hate heat. I'm tired. (Lora and I had stayed up researching waterfall braids the night before.) But. I. RUn. I even manage to get lost on numbered streets (I thought 35th was 33rd-- oops. Back and forth). 2008 Sophia got lost a lot too. So, I get in a 9 miler in the heat. And for the first time in years feel energized all day. All I can think about is running, goals, races and enlightenment. Next time Emily-- I'll race ya for first, instead of shuffle in for third.



I really don't know how I got it back. I really don't. The chart with the mileage looks so sterile, yet represents much, much more. The 2012-2013 months bare yet sprinkled with races are stark in comparison. Perhaps it was being patient, and knowing that I would have to forgive myself for small failures, if I was going to be able to move forward to small, then bigger successes. This is where I am and I am so grateful.

Rock On Perry 50k on Saturday. Looks like another 50 mile week.