Day Of Reckoning

October 30, 2010 - This will be the day of my running redemption. After a failed attempt at the 2010 Country Music 1/2 Marathon, I intend to redeem my self respect by completing the 2010 Healdsburg Wine Country 1/2 Marathon.

Here is my story. In the fall of 2009, I committed to my wife and to myself that I would run this year's Country Music 1/2 Marathon. I immediately signed up for the race as well as a training program in conjunction with Fleet Feet Sports. The training program consisted of 2 weekly individual runs and 1 weekend group run and was to last for 16 weeks. Training began on a frigid sub-zero Saturday morning. Stephanie and I wimped out of the group run and chose to do our 4 miles on the treadmill at the YMCA. Even tough I completed the run, the failure to run outside was an omen to my lack of commitment and bad luck for the big race. I trained for several weeks and finished a few group runs. However, my lack of commitment continued to rear its ugly head. I kept up the running, but I chose to run by myself as opposed to running with the group. You see, the group runs were scheduled for 7AM on Saturday mornings. Yeah. Not my cup of tea. Anyway, I did train hard enough to complete 8 miles at basically a 10 to 1 interval. I was pretty proud after completing my first 8 miler, but I was really sore the next morning (and my ankles were swelled to the size of grapefruits)! I could barely walk for several days and the swelling would not completely go away. I tried a couple of short runs, but they were basically short limping sessions. Finally, after about a week of this torture, I went to see my friend who is a physical therapist. It turns out that I had a case of tendonitis. He worked on me, gave me some stretching exercises and helped me get the swelling down. I think he believed that I could work through the pain and still achieve my goal. I thought otherwise. The swelling scared me and I was afraid to keep moving. End of story. I did not complete the race. I did go out to the course on the day of the marathon to watch my wife compete. I elbowed my way to the finish line so I could see Stephanie cross. I watched thousands of people finish the race. I saw fat people, skinny people, old people, young people and even barfing people finish the race. It made me feel like crap. Surely some of these people encountered the same injuries as me?

Long story short, I was very disappointed in myself and two days later began my search for redemption. I obviously chose the Healdsburd Wine Country 1/2 Marathon. I am pumped! I signed up for the race, reserved my hotel room and bought a new pair of running shoes. I even completed a pain free 2 mile run yesterday! I love California's Wine Country and I can't wait for the October trip. I'll have beautiful scenery, beautiful people, beautiful weather and a beautiful wife to motivate me. I am finishing this sucker!

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