11 April 2008
Stronger Woman
Posted by Shelly under: Shelly Batterbee .
Most of that song doesn’t fit for me, but the refrain does—which speaks of loving yourself, believing in yourself, not losing yourself. Believing in myself has been one of the toughest things about being a Road Warrior for me. This past weekend, however, I hope I turned that corner.
I joined the majority of my fellow Road Warriors, along with RunGazelle and many of you from the general running public, Saturday morning for a great time of running. Sleep eluded me the night prior—I think I was nervous at the thought of pounding out 12-13 miles after biking most of my workouts the past two weeks. My heel is still in pain, but I’m working on little fixes for it. After speaking to one of the doctors from Advanced Foot and Ankle Specialists, I think I’m working up the courage to go see a doctor to figure out some ways to relieve the pain. I just don’t know if I can handle someone saying “stress fracture” again this year. Thanks to them for their help!
We had PERFECT running weather on Saturday morning (not so sure tomorrow will be a repeat of that!)! My group and I walked the first half mile for a warm-up, then onward we went—we ran 12 full miles. No walk breaks, all running up the hills, down the hills, on the cambered roads, dodging a really big truck on Butterworth. Walked a short cool down after. That cool down was where I really felt the pain set in, but I’ve had worse pain in my life to compare it to, so I focused on the fact that I went 13 miles and still had a smile on my face.
Only 2.5 more miles and I have myself a Riverbank Run.
After a post-run coffee with my running partners and a friend of ours (who is also a fellow runner but opted for a Y workout since she is expecting a baby soon!), I returned home. After a much-needed shower, I iced my foot, taped it back up, and went out and about to run some errands with the family.
I was able to get my fitting taken care of for the upcoming Riverbank Run Expo on May 9—thanks so much to Jeff Brown and Gazelle Sports for outfitting us all with some awesome running gear! I can’t wait to show off the great running skirt they selected for me—yes, I like to run in skirts! Please bring your sunglasses if you are heading down to the Expo—I am pretty stinkin’ pale!
Sunday I met up with Road Warriors Mike, Terry, and Steve for our weekly “lap-o-da-lake” in East Grand Rapids. Those poor guys—I had to keep it slow as my foot didn’t want me to even go to begin with, but they stuck with me for some great conversation, and I am appreciative! I know that had to be painful for them to go that slow.
Before becoming a Road Warrior, I was never really one to run with anyone—mostly due to my own schedule and enjoying occasional quiet time—but I have thoroughly enjoyed these runs with everyone—so much that I am planning to join RunGazelle afterward to keep up the camaraderie and to hopefully be a stronger, faster runner! I still don’t quite feel like I’m part of the group, as I can’t get out for mid-week runs with them, but I’m sure that will change with time. I’m learning a lot—and I look forward to telling you in the future how much stronger I become with each day!
28 More Days…(And Matt, I think we can count on one more cold run tomorrow…)