Happy Easter!

             Best,  

                    Anne 

Just remember...

There is a specific reason why everything happens.
Some reasons are good...

Some reasons are not as good: 

Some reasons are unexplainable: 

But whatever the reason, we have to accept it. 

Accept new ideas. 

Accept new beliefs. 

Accept new directions.

Accept new people.

Accept new challenges. 

Accept your life. 

And don't be afraid when everything works out in the end. 

There is specific reason why everything happens...find the meaning behind it.

          Best,
                 Anne

I'd be lying if I said...

...I haven't been on the Seattle Rock N' Roll Marathon website for 20 minutes.

             Best,
                    Anne

Breaking the Silence

I feel like it has been ages since I've blogged. To be honest, I haven't been in the mood this week and I haven't had much time with school picking up to start a new quarter. So I guess that worked out conveniently. I have been thinking a lot about the marathon I will not be running a week from today. All I want to do is run. I even tossed around the idea of trying the half marathon just because I need to be there. At this point, I will not be running at all, but I wish I could stop thinking about it. I feel like someone told me I'm not capable of doing it and all I want to do is prove them wrong. Unfortunately, I am the one saying it's best not to run and the only person I'd like to prove wrong is myself. I know, I know...there will be other times. It's not the end of the world. I have the rest of my life to run another marathon. But...I wanted the time to be now. I didn't want to train for a few months for nothing. Then I realized something. Training for months provided me with happiness. Sure, I was not aware of the fate of my foot but I was content. The process of training is fun to me. I look forward to seeing what is next on the agenda and going for it. No, I can't cross off the word "MARATHON!!!" on my training plan but I can think about the past runs and not dwell on it anymore. I only allowed myself one day to be sad about it. That day was Tuesday and I happened to be driving home from Seattle when I saw the sign on the highway for Whidbey Island. That was enough for me. Note to self: Don't cry when you are driving. Especially when it's pouring rain outside. I know I'll be thinking about it at 6 am next week. I would be getting up, nerves flowing through my body, stretching, listening to my music, and getting ready to see all of my friends and family along the course. The feeling of finishing a marathon cannot be described. My only option is to be thankful for the experience and hopeful for the future. Life is rather unpredictable, isn't it?

         Best,
                Anne

The MarathON...

...is now called marathOFF.

(not at my) Best,
                       Anne

March (this is pretty)Badness.

There's no other way to describe my morning than saying it sucked. After days of rest and being anxious to run again, I set out for my 20-miler. I was extremely slow to start but so happy to be out there. It was cloudy but the temperature was just to my liking. I had an awful feeling that my foot would start hurting and no matter how hard I tried to think about something else, it always came back to my foot. I found any soft surface or gravel to run on instead of the pavement. Unfortunately that is hard to come by around here so the pavement it was! Then I thought about my form. Was I hitting the wrong part of my foot as I ran? It's hard to tell. Whenever you think about your next step it always seems more awkward than normal. Even still, I continued on. Past the lake. Through downtown. Toward the high school. It was at 10 miles that I called it quits. I wanted to be sick. Tears found a home on the bottom lid of my eye. Forget the rest of my failed runs. This took the cake. I knew it was time to get x-rays. I took a quick shower and my mom took me to the immediate care center. After the doctor told me how inflamed my foot was and that it was hot to touch, I knew this was going great. She asked me when I ran last. Um, an hour ago... She asked me on a scale of 1-10 how bad the pain was. Um, my 8 could be your 3. What a silly question. Just kidding... 7. Then she sent me to get my x-rays, gave me a snazzy shoe, and told me about my plantar fasciitis. She asked if I had any questions? Yes, when do you think I will be able to run next? She told me that with all of my stretching exercises, it could be as soon as tomorrow (yeah riiiight) or a few weeks. Thanks for the time span, Patricia. Since I clearly haven't been getting better for many days, I doubt it will be tomorrow. I doubt it will be this week. I'm going to work on my stretches like you wouldn't believe! My current plan is to try the 20 again when I get back to Washington. Time is dwindling. If I can't complete that, I'll throw in the towel. It's extremely simple to just say I'm going to sit this one out but the thought of it makes me sick to my stomach. What more can I say? It just sucks. 

My pop can exercises. Anyone thirsty?

 Plantar Fashionitis

Stupid papers. 

Today's Dedication: Melissa and Brad (and Lucy)

It has been a long time coming but I knew I'd have some special people on my mind during this run. Melissa and Brad are getting married in FIVE days! I have to make this brief and sort of all over the place because it can't sound completely like a maid of honor speech. As I ran, I thought about how this year has flown by and no matter what has happened, time hasn't stopped and they have almost reached the big day. I constantly think about how fortunate and lucky you both are to share the rest of your life together! I can't think of two people who are more kind-hearted and fun to be around.  I also thought about how I want to rest my foot to dance all night on their big day. It's incredible how essential a foot can be. I really miss them when I am far away but I know that Meliss and Brad take care of each other. After all, it's only just the beginning. I know that no matter how far I separate myself from my sister and Brad and Lucy, I'll always come back to beautiful smiles and lots of laughs. Isn't that what life is all about? The smiles and laughs, not the separating myself from the people I love. 

            Best, 

                   Anne

Taking steps in the wrong direction

It's amazing what can happen in a week. I do not really know what's going on. But, I do know that I ran 18 miles last weekend and felt good about it. I do know that I attempted 5 miles on Wednesday and had to stop after 3 because I could not physically walk on my foot. I do know that I have never had injury problems before this past month. I do know that I was supposed to run 14 miles this weekend. I do know that everyone I talked to told me to be smart about it. I do know that I started running and felt good until 7 miles. I do know that I stopped (because I was being smart, of course). But, I do not know why my body is ganging up on me. 

So here we are. Over a week after a great 18-miler and it hurts to put pressure on my foot. 

My verdict? 

Bruised ligaments. I do not think it's plantar fasciitis because my heel is just dandy. I know what you are going to say. "Anne, you are just going to injure yourself even more and it could become more permanent." You know what I'll say? "I have another foot."

But really, it's hard for me not to be stubborn about this. I am stopping when I feel pain because I usually can't keep putting pressure on it. That's not what I'm worried about. I have already thrown my under 4 hours goal out the window. Now I'm just determined to finish the race. "It's a hill. Get over it."

I'm not running for the rest of the week which will set me back plenty, but hopefully I'll be ready to crush 20 miles in a week. 

The jury is still out on this one...

Today's (Yesterday's) Dedication: My cousin John

I started running at the Rec center on the indoor track. It's not ideal for (a potential) 14 miles but I amused myself in my mind lap after lap after lap. The track is upstairs and circles above three basketball courts. I always see people playing and it was completely empty as I ran on Sunday morning. Why aren't people playing basketball on Sunday mornings in college? Baffled. For some reason I wished that my cousin John was playing basketball as I ran. I imagined him passing the time by playing a game of supercalifragilisticexpialidocious while I ran. This thought really calmed me. I wished that if he was there, I could complete the 14 miles and then play a game of horse with him like we were back home. John always has a "go-with-the flow" approach that I appreciate. Sometimes I need to adopt that attitude. I'm a very "stick-to-a-detailed-plan" type of person but sometimes you hurt yourself. Sometimes you have a bad day. Sometimes you need to take a breath and think about the people who care about you and the people you care about. That's more important than completing 14 miles. Even though John wasn't there, I glanced down at the empty gym floor with every lap and hoped he'd appear and give me the John grin that I miss so dearly. 

        Best,
               Anne