Pay It Forward

Life has changed a lot for me lately. Running has been taken away for the time being. I have my moments where that's been hard, especially on a beautiful Saturday morning, but overall I've accepted rather well I think. I'm very thankful that I have so many other options for being active ... biking (outdoors or the indoor trainer), swimming, Stairmaster (let me tell you ... 2 hours on the Stairmaster at level 20--the max--is a heck of a workout!), pool running, and when the snow flies, skiing which I really enjoy a lot but have put on the back burner the last winter or two. I was at the pool on Saturday morning at 7:30 and feeling a bit sorry for myself when I saw a gal walking around the pool deck with a palsied foot and therefore her walk is not "normal" or fluid. Well, she's probably NEVER been able to run. And here I'm feeling bad that I can't do it FOR NOW. Shame on me. I have much to be thankful for and things could be so much worse. And stepping back I can see how hard running is on the body when that's the only activity, for me anyway ... after my 100 mile ride Saturday, it was nothing to recover and continue hard at it for the next day and the next. Overall, my conditioning is probably better overall. But yes, I do miss it. I can't deny that. But as with any changes in life, you adapt and move forward. There is no other option. So ... life goes on.

I saw Dr. Hall in Sports Med today. The hamstring is not torn and there doesn't appear to be any serious damage. So I just have to take it easy and slow, ice it, and stay off of NSAIDs actually. Like he said, if I push too hard to return and keep tweaking it, it could become a chronic problem. It's certainly not worth that to me. So I'm going to be good. Going to be cautious. TC10 probably won't be happening and Outer Banks is still a question mark, though I'm certainly going on the big road trip with them! Maybe I'll be head cheerleader. I really look forward to the trip, running or not. Spotted at Mayo today (I ALWAYS see people I know) ... Jeff Gamez and Sawra Maurer. I see a physical therapist in the morning to learn how to properly strengthen my hamstrings.

I'm pretty much out of the loop on running activities, but there is a group starting early on Saturday at the RAC. They are heading out at 6:20 before the scheduled 20-miler. Tom O' seems to know just about everything going on :-) and it's usually posted on the Team R.E.D. blog.

Today's workout ... an hour doing freestyle laps in the Rec Center pool ...

followed by a nap :-) followed by 2 hours on the Stairmaster. As I said previously ... it's a heck of a workout. I do 4 different programs for a half hour each. I work up an unbelievable sweat on that thing. It's disgusting actually ...

I just returned from the Melby home in Byron ...

where I watched the first half of the Vikings game with some of the Team R.E.D. runners after their evening run.

Maddie and Anna and Carson really enjoyed their cookies. They're such cute kids. :-)
 

The quilt that I've been finishing up was presented to a former president of the River Runners last night as a thank you gift from the club for his years of service as president. There were 80 signature blocks on the quilt and I think 78 have been signed. I'm very happy with how it turned out.
 

Kurt and Mike

Cindy, Gary, Sharon, Rick, Buddy

Paul, Kathy, Jay, Sharon, Jodi, Gary

Amy and Ironwoman-to-be Kathy

Dan Cairns talking

Paul, Anita, Pat

It was really a nice get-together and it was great to see them again. I just can't say enough superlatives about this group of people. They are the salt of the earth, fun, welcoming, kind, funny, caring, ... I just love 'em all and always have a great time in their company. That's why I'm so looking forward to Outer Banks. :-)
 
On the way home, I stopped at Nelson Bros. at the Clearwater truck stop for some treats for Eric. You can't believe the size of these pastries ...
 

 
Coming through the cities, the traffic was backed up in several places. Some, for construction which apparently goes on at all hours of morning or night depending on the anticipated traffic flow (either into or out of the metro area depending on the time of day) and then a bit later because of a car fire. It was on the westbound lane of 694 and traffic was backed up for miles. I'd never seen a car on fire before. There must have been 4 or 5 firefighters trying to put it out. Hope the occupant(s) were able to escape serious injury. Scary.
 
So ... this post is entitled Pay It Forward and I haven't touched that yet. I'll tell you why that came to mind. Today as I was leaving the parking ramp, the attendant, who was a 20-something male, told me that I had a great haircut. And he meant it. Wow. Not what I was expecting to hear. I told him that was so nice of him. What a nice thing to say to a complete stranger. Then not 2 hours later after swimming at the Rec Center I went into the women's locker room and one of the other swimmers was leaving. She looked at me and I smiled back. She said to me, "You are a beautiful swimmer. You glide through the water effortlessly." Wow, part II. Certainly not what I was expecting to hear as I'm pretty negative on my swimming abilities. I told her how nice that was for her to say to me, and that she'd made my day. So ... two examples of just a few words from complete strangers that had made me feel so good. I think I'll pay it forward. :-)
 
Good night.