Thought I’d retired these
I gave up obstacle races a few years ago.
In 2011 and 2012, I competed in four Warrior Dashes – two in Canada and two in the States – but training for the fifth one, I quickly realized that my knees no longer wanted to run. They creaked, and ached and all but begged me to Please. Stop. Running.
That was four years ago. Since then, I’ve stayed fit through horseback riding, biking, swimming, yard work, climbing, yoga and high speed grocery shopping. But no more running. I had hung up my running shoes for good.
Or so I thought.
Yesterday, my sister-in-law, Tia, posted a FaceBook message. It was a link to a Muck MS – charity mud race, a fund raiser for Multiple Sclerosis with this message:
” September 24th…anyone interested in joining me? 🙂 Great race, fun and for a great cause. I hope one day there will be a cure and hopefully in time for my son in law; the biggest hero of all to me.”
Tia is my husband’s youngest sister, the closest to me in age. In the last couple of years, she has made a concerted effort to become more fit and on top of that she’s a kind-hearted soul, a great mom and obviously a great mom-in-law. How can I not answer that call?
You have to sign up for that, I said to myself
The answer came back just as fast.
Wait. What? No! I don’t run anymore. I can’t run anymore. I won’t be able to walk if I train for that.
Who says you have to train? Who says you have to run? You can walk can’t you?
Walk? Walk! Seriously? I can’t walk in a race. That would be humiliating.
Grow up, buttercup. Of course you can. It’s not about you.
Pause.
Right. Crap. I have to sign up for that.
It is certainly for Tia’s son-in-law, but he is not the only one. There is the mother of my daughter’s elementary school friend. There’s my horse-loving buddy who is still devoted to his herd. And when I was a kid, there was the lovely mother of one of my very best friends. All diagnosed with MS.
Nope. Not about me. This is someone else’s race. All I have to do is show up.
And so I committed. “I will,” I posted, “but I don’t run anymore so perhaps I can skip.”
And I will race. I may walk, unless I can figure out how to run without pain.
And today, for the first time in many years, I laced up my running shoes, picked up a water bottle and walked out of my driveway with an intention to Train. Even if it meant walking.
Since Warrior Girl started off as an online training diary for my first Warrior Dash, it is only fitting that I come back to this page to document this new journey.
Today: Two laps, one mile each 17:06 and 16:19. Soundtrack? The voices in my head roaring does the one hour of yoga this morning count? Yes, dear. That counts.
Stay tuned. With any luck, perhaps my recent daily devotion to yoga will see me through the mud.