9 May 2008
Has Anyone Seen My Mojo?
Posted by Shelly under: Shelly Batterbee .
I remember logging in to post my blogs months ago and seeing the counter down at the bottom of the home page. 112 days. 89 days. 33 days. They have flown past. It’s hard to believe that we are down to 1 day.
After my last blog post, I was feeling pretty good about the race. Dreams can really do something to the whole psyche, in positive ways or negative. Then I had my last long run before the race. In a word (or two): it sucked.
Fellow Road Warrior Julie and I ran together—weather perfect (well, maybe a little warm for my liking…and windy…), nice crowd of runners. We initially said we’d run 8 miles and go a total of 9 (walking the first half mile and the last half mile), but somehow I forgot about that once we set out and we did a total of 10 miles (that darned Garmin!). I had to take short little walk breaks, and even though we still ended up with a decent-enough pace per mile (considering we were supposed to keep it easy this final pre-race week), I just felt it was a horrible run.
I think somewhere along the route I lost my Mojo. What is Mojo, really? I was in an IM conversation with my brother, Brian, yesterday afternoon, and we chatted about this whole quandary of mine, and we both realized people use the term a lot, but we never really define it. Well, according to dictionary.com (you didn’t think I would check, did you?), here you go:
mo·jo (mō’jō’) n. pl. mo·jos or mo·joes
1. A magic charm or spell.
2. An amulet, often a small flannel bag containing one or more magic items, worn by adherents of hoodoo or voodoo.
3. Personal magnetism; charm.
(The next definition says it is a Cuban seasoning of garlic, olive oil, and sour oranges used as a dip, marinade, or sauce. That just made me hungry, so I had to end my conversation with my brother and go make dinner. Much as I am now craving some San Chez tapas, I know to wait until AFTER the race to go do something like that.)
I like to think I always have my personal magnetism and charm, but when my oomph is gone or lacking, I think that’s when my Mojo is missing. Maybe I should transfer it to some cute little amulet – that would be easier to keep track of than something in my head or heart, right?
Throughout training, I have dealt with heel pain, a cut toe, knee pain—all on my left leg. I am still dealing with those. This week, upon taking my fabulous tape job off said left foot for my heel, I ripped the tape quickly and without much thought, only to have that after-rip wince, realizing I’d just taken off a layer of skin. Enough to make it bleed. For about 40 minutes. OUCH. That will kill off the Mojo pretty quickly. How do you run on a ripped up foot?
My answer I keep giving to myself? Well, it’s not as painful as childbirth.
Granted, for some of you, childbirth was a breeze, or you are a man and never have to worry about it. Kudos to all of you who had a grand experience. For me—not so much. I always tell myself instead of being blessed with easy labor and delivery, I was blessed with great kids. My three kids are fantastic—smart, considerate, funny, beautiful. But the process of getting them into the world: Painful. And my foot isn’t that bad, in comparison.
So I’m counting down the minutes and hours until 8:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. I’m trying to make sure I eat the right things, drink plenty of water today, and get everything set out tonight for the morning. I’ll tell myself it’s just another long run, only more people will be there, and it’s a touch longer than normal. Hopefully those of you not running will be down there cheering on the runners—give me back a little of that Mojo. I’m sure it’s along the route somewhere—that’s where we ran last weekend. Hopefully I’ll find it by mile 10 so those last few miles will be a breeze.
Hey, you don’t think that Leprechaun stole it, do you…?
Just remember, nerves are normal. For all of us. See you at the starting line!
3 Comments so far...
Brian Says:
9 May 2008 at 9:10 am.
Maybe the missing Mojo is a sign you NEED some tapas! 
Have fun tomorrow! BA
Steve Kelly Says:
9 May 2008 at 12:26 pm.
You can do this thing, Shelly! You’ve done the work, here comes the reward!
Andrea Sumner Says:
11 May 2008 at 9:05 pm.
This was my first 5K Run, even though last year I walked the 5K at a walk somewhere else my kids and husband and I participated in. I was so nervous being my first race but so excited with all the adrenaline rushing through me. What a rush! I loved running and next year am going to have my husband run with me. I felt so good when I ran across that finish line and ran my first 5K. I did it, I accomplished what I set out to do!!