Facing Facts...ugh!

I can hardly believe it has been almost a month since my last post...wow...So as I have been training I have been having to face some facts. One fact I had to face is that there are no water/pool shoes in Brunswick for my size feet. Now first off understand that Meg, whom I love, thinks they are ugly on anyone older than Sam. Well, if you had seen my nearly lost toe from my swim two weeks ago you would understand...I mean there I am minding my own business swimming in the ocean avoiding sharks and horny sea turtles (you remember from a former post my fears) and I go to stand up and some sea creature cut the bottom of my big toe!

I mean come on I did not intend to step on it, did it really have to cut my foot in half. I mean first I freaked out and then I figured out that there were probably a school of great whites coming north from Australia to hunt me down so I had to get out of the water. I had determined that I would get water shoes and then I would be protected from toe cutting/eating sea creatures. Well, I am headed back to the ocean Saturday and I am hoping that sea creatures and the school of sharks have given up on eating me and gone back out to sea several hundreds of miles away.

The next fact I had to face was a bit more difficult for me and that was that the big shiny Superman S I wear on my chest has been getting a little tarnished...the fact is I am not running the Goofy race and a half at Disney. Excuse me while I wipe away a tear. Ugh...OK maybe I was over reaching a little...Sure I would have been training for 6 months, sure I would have run my first 1/2, a three race challenge, a double pump, probably a easy 5k, all before my full marathon, but in truth I have no idea what condition I will be in after my half and so perhaps I should take it a little easy this time around.

Now, Meg, I admit that you might be right and that is a big might...I mean come on I am a driven person who sees a challenge and does not think "Hmmm that may be too much" NO I see it and think "Lets kick some ass! Lets own that goal!" So, it does pain me to not sign up for the race...but there is always next year...insert diabolical laugh.

Let last fact I have started to face is that I need more mental training. I have decided to go and get a sports physical and maybe see a chiropractor to have some foot and ankle evals before I get closer to race day. These things are important because I know mentally I have the race, I mean mentally I own it and I could do it tomorrow. However, it is the recovery I have to be ready for and so the more mental training I could do to prep for recovery the better I will be on my long training runs and recovery from the big race.

Well there you go some new facts I have had to face and deal with...what an eye opening month this first month of training has been.

A blister - Damn it! AND a rock in my shoe!

Ahh the run...it was short 3 mile run, I say short because I am training for my 1/2, as I was running I realized that I have a problem a sharp shooting pain that ebbs and flows with the movement of my shoe. What could it be but a heel blister. I stop and look and it is a heel blister...right where a very old bruise has been for several weeks. I know there is nothing to do with it out on the street so I lace back up and hit the road. As I run I start thinking about the pain and the thoughts (or conversation in my head) goes something like this....(insert wavy flashback sequence)

"Man this really sucks, my heel really hurts, how long has that blister been working its way out of my heel, I mean the bruise has been there forever" - Running is going on, not hard but steady. "Oh well at least it is going to heal finally and then I wont think about the bruise." Running continues, no major problems have developed. "Man I really used the word heal/heel a lot recently...oh well...oooo a new song on my run list, I really like this song" Running faster to my new song. "I bet I will limp later walking to the house, I am almost done, lets try to push it out" Running even faster to my new song...

and then this happened...(reinsert wavy flashback sequence)

"Ow ow ow what is that?" Now walking funny, "Is that a pebble in my shoe? Oh come on, I just want to finish" now getting ready to take off my shoe, I look like a giant hippo on two legs bending over and not looking graceful at all as I fall to my rump trying to get my shoe off. Insert frustrated face. "That little thing was making all that pain? Stupid pebble." Put shoe back on and got up to get started down the road again. "Aw man my new song is over, it was really good...oh well I think that is Metallica coming on next I can run that to the finish, stupid rock and blister"

And then a healthy finish and walk home...shoes off and foot tended too. Well, there you go a small look into my internal dialogue when I run, hope you enjoyed it.