Life's little adventures, accompanied by a running watch

Saturday, August 31, 2013

Disappointment

You’ve registered for the race.  You’ve created your training calendar.  You’ve followed your training calendar as close as possible.  You’re now injured with not enough time on the calendar to make up the mileage.  Enter “disappointment”.

Mom and I have had the Portland Marathon on our calendar ever since Mom committed to walking her first marathon.  So exciting!!  If you remember, I registered and then later found out Mom registered me as well.  The Portland Marathon race peeps were super helpful and understanding, and removed/credited back the duplicate registration.  Since then, Mom’s been walking up a storm in preparation!  She also bought a Garmin and some cute workout clothes (isn’t that why we do this?).  Then she got sick and lost some time.  Worse, when she got better, she may have done too much too soon and is suddenly unable to walk very far without pain.

She thought it out and we talked it out and decided that trying to move forward with only 4+ weeks remaining was probably not a good idea.  Even knowing this is the right decision, it’s still hard.  A number of years ago, I registered for Hartford Marathon and never made it to the start line.  I had done the physical training, but at the time, had so much going on that I felt mentally injured.  Even though I knew it was the right decision at the time, it was still a lousy feeling to be home on race day and not in Hartford. 

Missing a race because of injury (or anything really) is a mental blow.  But we’re already thinking about a Plan B!  I’m a big crybaby when I finish a race; I know it’s not a given that I’ll finish or that I’ll always be in good enough shape to run.  So, I’m always grateful and humbled when I'm able to cross another finish line.  I can’t imagine what a blubbering mess I’ll be when I get to cross the finish line with Mom at her first marathon (sniff)!!

What I ultimately said to Mom was this, “Hey, at least you injured yourself during an athletic activity and NOT by reaching the wrong way to retrieve the remote control while lying on the couch!”.  I think that helped J



15 comments:

  1. That's a total bummer, but good to hear you have a plan B! I love your comforting words to her, too :) It's so true... I would much rather get injured doing something active, than getting injured from being sedentary. Walking a marathon is seriously impressive!!! That is a long time to be out there, and in some ways, I find walking to be more taxing than running. Way to go mom! Can't wait to hear about that marathon when it happens!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree, walking is hard!!! :) Thanks, I'm sure your words will also be helpful to her (mom reads my blog!). We'll find something and share that good news when it happens!

      Delete
  2. Sorry for your mom, but finding another one is a great idea. Hope she heals quickly!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Tina! She's a tough cookie, so I know she'll bounce back for Plan B :)

      Delete
  3. It will happen one day...... Just think how much sweeter the reward of finishing will be. Besides, she'll have to get more outfits for training! As I see it...... Win-Win.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Aww.... Thanks, everyone. You're all making me feel like a superstar already!

    Thank you for being you, Lisa!

    xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  5. Aww.... Thanks, everyone. You're all making me feel like a superstar already!

    Thank you for being you, Lisa!

    xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  6. So sorry to hear about your mom, I hope she is on the mend soon. It's so tough to make the decision to not start a race. Good luck to you if you are still running it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Jill :)Definitely tough when your head says "GO GO GO!" but your body wholeheartedly disagrees!

      No, not running it. It was all about doing it w/ mom and soaking in the priceless finish :)

      Delete
  7. That's so tough! It's always hard when training schedules get interrupted, but especially so for the first marathon. Kudos to your mom for making the right call. This way, when she trains again for a new one - she'll really kick butt!

    ReplyDelete
  8. What a bummer but probably the best decision for Mom. There will be other races so let her heal up and get back into healthy. She is a smart runner already and has another smart runner advising her :)

    ReplyDelete