Changes, discouragement, happiness, uncertainty, progression, digression, all words that sum up the past two weeks for this runner. I've had many things to deal with during the past few weeks, changes in my life, changes in my career and unfortunately or maybe fortunately changes to my running habit.
For a number of months I've hung in there at my job with the false thought that things would get better. I've never really been happy with management whose job in my opinion is to lead, mentor and motivate. At my previous employer I was fortunate enough to work in a family like atmosphere with a boss who really cared for me as both a nurse and a person. I finally decided it was time to bow out gracefully from my current job and hand in my two week notice. This of course is an action not taken lightly by this nurse/runner so there have been stressors involved with making such a decision. In the big picture, I made the right decision and I couldn't be happier. Unfortunately I am contemplating my future as a nurse. So I am now asking myself, "is this now my chance to either tackle another area of the nursing profession or start something completely new?" I think changes open new doors and allow you to experience things you've never seen or done before. So I see good things on the horizon, but just like the graphic above, which road or path should I follow?
I am a firm believer that when the brain must deal with stress it will shuttle that stress to another part of the body. Your body releases all kinds of chemicals to deal with stress and unfortunately things like increased muscle tension, a rise in blood pressure and heart rate are just the beginning. If you've been keeping tabs on this blog you'll note that two weeks ago I was hit with a debilitating lower back injury. So my running has suffered to the point where I have run less than 10 miles in over two weeks. And to make things worse this past weekend I was hit with an upper respiratory tract infection. Thankfully the back is healing slowly and the upper respiratory infection seems to get better with each passing day. But again, these two events have reeked havoc on my running which depresses the hell out of me. If I can't run, I am not happy. I know the body will heal but it is going to take some time to get back to where it was say a month ago.
So I am also at a fork in the road in regards to the Big Sur Marathon. That clock on the upper right of this page is now clicking down to around 50 days till race day. Can I pick myself back up next week? Doubtful I can pick up my training program where I left off. I am suppose to be running an 18 miler on Sunday and sadly my last long run was three weeks ago at 14 miles and it was a difficult 14 miles at that. I have a 10K scheduled this Saturday and I don't know if I will be feeling better by then. Should I start contemplating not running at Big Sur? Should I look an easier walk/run program like the Jeff Galloway method? As in my life and my running I have a lot of questions to ask myself at this fork in the road. Stay tuned, I'll get through this. Really, now is a great time to keep smiling and keep running.
A great page that discusses what stress is all about - The Powerful Impact of Stress and Calm on Health, Behavior and Learning
http://www.newhorizons.org/spneeds/inclusion/teaching/tennant.htm
A short article on the Run/Walk Method - Better Running Through Walking
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/02/health/02well.html?_r=2&ref=health
