Monday, March 5, 2007

Back in the Shoes Again - Martha

It was with some trepidation and self doubt that I found myself driving over to Heidi's house yesterday for our weekly Saturday run. Since my knee had “behaved” for two, four-mile runs on Wednesday and Thursday, I decided it was time to test it further. I brought along my cell phone in case I had to bail on Heidi and we decided to try a 14-mile run for me and 16 for her. Fortunately, it was a day totally opposite weather-wise from the previous week. I would venture to say that at one point while running I could have sworn it was June if not for the occasional pile of dirty snow on the sidewalk. And, as has been the case throughout this training, I am happy to say that running was once again fun! I have to believe that having Heidi as a partner played a huge role in me having a successful run yesterday.

I was sitting on the couch this afternoon going over Newton's First Law of Motion with my daughter (no, I'm not that geeky; it was for school!) and it reminded me of my run. In case you forgot (not that that could even be conceivable), the law states that an object at rest (i.e., me) will stay at rest unless acted upon by a force (Heidi). I think if Heidi had not asked me to run, I would still be sitting on the couch babying my knee. Not to say that rest isn't always appropriate therapy, but there comes a time when an outside force is sometimes what is required to get back on track. I think one of the things I find so interesting about preparing for this (or any big challenge for that matter) is how valuable and supportive it is to be going through it with another person. For the most part I tend to approach most challenges in a private manner and have never been a big fan of committees or group thinking to get the work done. However, running with Heidi has revealed to me how helpful it can be to share the burden. So hat's off to Heidi and I'm happy to say I'm off to the store to buy more callous protectors!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Martha - All I can say is that your marathon training has been a big motivational push for me. When I’m leaving work at night, contemplating whether I’m going to Curves for my measly 30 minute work-out or whether I’ll procrastinate and put it off for tomorrow, I start thinking about your training. How pathetic is it that I can’t make time for a quick work-out while you’re out there running 20 mile circuits. That’s just the push I need to get my car headed to Curves and as always, when it is all done I’m glad I went.

Anonymous said...

Martha - All I can say is that your marathon training has been a big motivational push for me. When I’m leaving work at night, contemplating whether I’m going to Curves for my measly 30 minute work-out or whether I’ll procrastinate and put it off for tomorrow, I start thinking about your training. How pathetic is it that I can’t make time for a quick work-out while you’re out there running 20 mile circuits. That’s just the push I need to get my car headed to Curves and as always, when it is all done I’m glad I went.

Heidi said...

Let's see if I can respond without the help of the hospital computer gurus! Martha, I almost got misty as I read your blog this morning. I think I was in such a funk on my Monday run because I was all alone. I can't imagine undertaking all of this without you! Thanks for the training tips, running path ideas and mostly the laughs. I think together we can cross that finish line on the 16th. Your running partner, Heidi