For those of you who were following my slightly sad tale of being really bummed, a happy (almost) ending. The ending will be when I finish the marathon.
I say bummed because given what's been going on the world - between hurricanes, blizzards, scandals and probably some stuff I'm not even thinking of - I don't have a right to be sad as it (was) hardly tragic. Nevertheless, what I thought was a stress fracture turned out to be much, much less. In fact, it was - let's call it - an irritation that many runners get.
I don't want to be graphic as my daughter really thinks this whole thing is "gross" but I have what typically results in one buying shoes with a wider toe box that have some room to move. Truth is, it's not that big a deal but when you're seventeen like she is, many things to the left of cool, fall into the category of gross. Anyway, my foot feels 100% better -- In fact, I went to a podiatrist on Monday who was, without meaning to be, hilarious.
He looks at my foot and doesn't really do any sort of double take. Asks a couple questions. Does four x-rays. We come back in the "little room" (as distinguished from the bigger waiting room) as Seinfeld always likes to distinguish. Anyway, he checks me out, tests it for hotness to the touch (it wasn't) and asks "so what do you want me to do?" I said when I made the appointment I was really looking for answers as to what it was. Now I feel fine and think that it was the (unmentionable) reacting badly to a long run in a narrower shoe - followed by another run the next day. So now I'm just looking for clearance. The doc asks "so did you train for this - how long?". I explained that I've been prepping/training for three months including two 20 mile runs over the last few weeks.
Then I felt like I was in a Rocky movie. If you saw "Rocky Balboa" (also known as Rocky 6), there's a part where Marie, the girl that he had helped in the very first movie, but all grown up with a son, says "Fighter's Fight". Here's the scene for your enjoyment and inspiration - I hope my blog doesn't get nailed or pulled down for it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lizg14PXbPQ
I know I'm digressing here but if you're looking for inspiration - something, anything - check this out. I'll embarrass myself here and say that I can't watch it without shedding a tear.
Anyway, the Doctor says to me "Are you a runner?". I say yes, not a fast one, but a committed one. He turns to me and says "If you're a runner then you have to run it". I love it! I said are you totally serious and he says it again. Cleared for take off! That was a moment that I'll look back on with a lot of happiness.
So, looking forward to doing my third Philadelphia Marathon. The other thing I've learned from this is a lot more appreciation for the simple joy of running in a race. There is something really special about it that is just indescribable. While days before I'm usually sitting here thinking of all kinds of calculations and visualizations, I'm doing nothing. I'm always thinking about time goals and stuff like that. All I've got on my mind is that I am so lucky to be getting to do something I was so looking forward to doing and completing. That's special to me.
Feelings like this are what I associate with running and definitely the reason that Teens Run Westchester is so important to me. Looking at a goal and realizing the privilege we have as healthy people to do something - not just a marathon - but anything we want to take on, is such an awesome and brave act. Yet, so many tend to shy away from that. If we can use running to teach both teens and their mentors the value of this, that's something pretty cool.
So since I got all serious there for a few minutes and haven't done any Seinfeld trivia, I'll bring it back to the Doctors, one of Seinfeld's favorite topics. Here are a couple trivia pieces from the show.
In one of the fairly early episodes, George ends up at the hospital because he thinks he had a heart attack. What actual problem did he have? What did he do instead of immediately having the hospital provide care? What somewhat famous and oft-forgotten candy is mentioned in the episode.
In another episode, Jerry, George and Elaine all go to have messages with Jerry thinking that his friend, a doctor, can get them insurance clearance. What's the friends first name? The doctor/friend has a poster of a boxer in his office - who is the boxer? What happens to the friend as a result of writing the notes?
Enjoy!
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