31 March 2008
Life Is Good
Posted by Deborah Pieri under: Deborah Pieri .
It was sure great to run on dry roads this weekend! Last Saturday I ran 15.5 miles with rungazelle on some very sloppy, slippery roads. This week my heel started to bug me again. I’ve been icing it and that helps. Like everyone else I get real nervous when I start to feel pain this close to the race. I have also been battling another cold. . . nasty cough all last week. I ended up having an unexpected root canal on Wednesday at 4:30. . . . always a fun time, then I dashed off to teach a powerflex class at the Y at 6. My dentist was ok with me teaching the class, but told me I couldn’t run Wednesday night. I had been looking forward to a run all day, but I listened to him and went home after the class.
Thursday, I was determined to meet rungazelle in East Grand Rapids. Once again the snow was flying. Huge wet flakes! It would have been lovely had it been December . . . not the end of March! I met the group at the library and some of us decided to skip the 2 mile time trial because of the snow falling on the track. After talking to Coach Woj I decided to just run an easy 6 miles because of my cough. We really had a great time chatting as we ran around the lake, but the wet snow left us drenched by the time we finished. I was freezing. My teeth were chattering all the way home. When I woke up Friday, my chest and back were tight, my cough was much worse, and I started to think I might have pnuemonia. I am so stupid to have run Thursday night I kept thinking. The good thing is my dentist had me on an antibiotic for the root canal, so I figured it might help with the cough as well.
Saturday morning I was still hoarse and coughing a lot, but I headed to the chi running workshop here in town. Fellow road warrior Julie was also there, as well as fellow gazelle member Joyce. I was somewhat familiar with the method as I read the book a few years ago, but it was great to have an instructor lead us through the focuses and then to put it all together as we ran. Gill Schumaker (from the Chicago area) was our instructor and he did a great job! It was a long morning, and I was pretty tired when I arrived home at 1:00. My husband, Tim was waiting for me, all set for our long run. I groaned, but knew it was better to get the long run in when we had time. I ate a banana and off we went. We decided to run toward Riverside Park and loop around to do a 12 mile route. I was excited to get out and practice the things we had learned. I was so mentally focused on everything we had just gone over. Connect the dots. . . align the body, lean forward from the ankles not the waist, pick up your heels, bend your elbows and swing them to the rear, shoulders low and relaxed, let your swinging arms set your cadence, move from your center. . . it’s more powerful, more balanced. I was so busy reviewing all this as I ran, that the miles slipped quickly by. At about 8 or 9 miles, I reached up to brush my hair behind my ears to discover that I has lost an earring. . . not just any earring but my favorite earrings. I didn’t even realize that I had forgotten to take them out. We debated whether we should backtrack and see if we could find it, but opted to keep trudging forward, and return on Sunday to see if we could find it.
We went to an auction Saturday night and had way too much fun, waking up just a wee bit foggy. Nothing cures that like a good run even though it’s the last thing you want to do. At around noon we drove to Riverside Park deciding to re-trace a portion of our run from Saturday to see if we could find the missing earring. A quest. I know it was like looking for a needle in a haystack, worse actually, but I am the eternal optimist. Unfortunately, a portion of our run was on grass and that made it really tough to look for the earring. We said a prayer to St. Anthony . . . . he is great at helping you find lost things. I lost the saphire in my wedding ring twice and prayed to St. Anthony and found it both times! So I had high hopes. We ran 3 and a half miles and then turned to head back once again carefully scanning the ground as we went. Despite the impossiblility of our quest we laughed and joked a lot as we ran. Finally, Tim said, “Maybe we’re not supposed to find it Deb. Maybe some lonely person found it, marvelled at its beauty and took it home to their little treasure box. Maybe it is a real source of happiness to them.” “Maybe” I said. “Or maybe it’s like the ring that the hobbit lost and the whole Middle Earth adventure began from that,” says Tim. “Maybe one of those fat ducks over there ate,” I say. We laughed and laughed as we imagained all the scenarios.
We arrived back at Riverside finally. We had run at least 7 miles and had walked a few as well. We had not found the earring, but we had sure had fun together. I have not given up though. St. Anthony may want us to find it the next time we go that way or maybe someone did find it and is marvelling at the detail and beauty. It doesn’t matter. It’s just a thing after all. I was sorry to miss running with my fellow road warriors yesterday, but I’m glad to have spent some fun miles with Tim. We’ve been married for 32 years and have been running together for the last 10 years. We’ve had some amazing times together pounding the pavement and trails. It’s such a wonderful thing to share a love of running with the one you’re running through life with!
Let me know if anyone finds a lovely Silpada earring on the road! I haven’t given up. Blessings and happy running!
Deb
2 Comments so far...
Shelly Says:
31 March 2008 at 7:25 pm.
Deb–you epitomize the Road Warrior! A root canal, a cough, and you keep on going!!! I hope you are feeling better this week. And I hope you find your earring!!! I lost a bracelet that belonged to my Grandmother once–I still look through jewelry cases at antique stores thinking maybe someone found it and pawned it off–and maybe someday I’ll get lucky–you never know! Never give up that hopeful attitude!
Bob Says:
1 April 2008 at 12:17 pm.
Sorry to hear about the lost earring. I am glad your starting to feel better. Sounds like I’ll be needing to get some chi-pointers when we run together again!