Frail old man

I've been reading more of Hal Higdon's Masters Running and while it's not telling me anything I don't know about my chronic hamstring injury, it confirms I'm on the right track in dealing with it...and more to the point I'm not alone in this. By the way, I do love the terminology in running. It designed not to make you more keenly aware of what you aren't but to remind you in what you overcome just by pinning on a bib. I'm not an old runner, I'm a MASTERS runner! I'm not a big runner, I'm a CLYDESDALE! Doreen isn't a big runner, she is an ATHENA!

Anyway... reading the book also reminds me that if I take care of myself, I should be able to at the very least keep my current level of fitness into my early 60s but the one essential bit of reality I need to absorb is that: I heal more slowly than younger runners. This makes me a little sad in that I can't really chase a race schedule as aggressive as I had set out to do this year before I wrecked my knee. I guess I just need to be very selective in choosing very difficult races.

Speaking of difficult races. I have to admit I needed a minute  to process an email I got this morning. It's the final confirmation and instructions from the people giving the RRCA Coaching Certification class. As what will be expected of us and the logistics were outlined, I came to the part that made me so very happy: "Attire: comfortable, we will not be running." This might seem a bit out of step with me until you consider something that's been eating at me for the past month.

I've been utterly terrified of the Spartan Sprint. I think I've mentioned nerves before and people expressed their confidence in me...which helped not at all because here is the thing: I know I'm going to cross that line carrying my shield or on it BUT I was worried that I'd wreck myself too much to do the coach training. A fear like that would likely make me hold back and if you've run an obstacle/challenge/confidence course before you know this: Holding back makes it MORE likely you will fail or get hurt.

So, now knowing that no matter what comes to pass at the Spartan, I'll be able to do what's most important to me has lifted such a worry, that I can't adequately express it.

"Suffering is humbling. It pays to know how to get your butt kicked."- Christopher McDougall