It’s happening. Really.

My summer has come to an end, and I don’t even believe that July really happened. It seems like I had just finished closing up my office for the summer and now I’m not only reopening it, I’m reassessing where I am as an educator. But enough about that. On to the fun stuff. Training season has begun! I start training for the City of Oaks (Rex Healthcare) Half Marathon on Monday and I’m pumped. Sort of. I always prefer training for races that take place in the late fall/ winter, since that training schedule is significantly less hot. But this fall also promises to be slammed with weekend activities, from weddings (yay for one in NYC!) to Girls on the Run (I’m a coach), to Hopscotch Music Festival in downtown Raleigh (VIP is how I roll) and so much more. Seriously. It’s ridiculous. So i’m trying to figure out a strategy that will give me some flexibility in the dreaded long run. Or maybe not so dreaded long run. What I learned over my summer vacation is this: I am finally starting to make choices that negatively affect my body. And I’m not talking about the Klondike Crunch Bar I just ate because that was completely worth it. It started in June. I’m on a run with my sister in law, and suddenly I feel a small pain underneath my left calf. I stretch it out and try to ignore it. The next day I’m walking on the beach and suddenly I can’t move. Not quite but very close. So I hobble home and then have Dr. Google diagnose it. Achilles Tendon. It’s strained. I can’t do a damn thing about it except ice it and stop running. Which I do. For three long weeks I do no running, very limited swimming and not a step of power walking. I ice it religious and take Advil and think I’m going to go crazy and make my husband crazy in the meantime. But it gets a little better and by the end of July I’m running again. Not long distances, but at least my feet are working. Then my back starts to hurt. Really, really hurt. Spasms that occur underneath my left shoulder and don’t stop. So I see a massage therapist and she says yeah, seems like stress. What she doesn’t say but which I know she thinks is- Over 30. I swear to you, prior to the third decade I didn’t know what a sports injury was. And I should be prone to them. The only issue I ever had was a problem with a hip ligament when I was 13 and a dancer. Everything else functions fine. I’m no Olympian, but i can make it from Point A to Point B. Then 30 happens and all of a sudden I’m hobbling with a bad back. And I’m doing that stretching thing that old people and mothers do where you put your hands on the small of your back and push your elbows away from your body. You know the pose. I’m also positive that I grimace when I do that, making it much more “Oh, she’s getting older. You know, back pain.” I also found myself thinking recently- AND I AM BEING SERIOUS RIGHT NOW- that maybe we should be looking at a Tempur-Pedic. Not to worry, I caught myself in the thought but it was so horrible that I nearly spilled coffee all over the carpet (sigh, another stain, right?). This is the most fascinating anthropological experiment I’ve ever been a part of. And I’m involved 24-7.