Run, Forrest, Run

Pretty sure that someone who was AA-bound would not be sitting at home on a Saturday night doing laundry and watching reruns of "Friends". Matt Suber has volunteered to verify this fact for those of you interested....thanks Matt, haha!

For those of you wondering what came out of mine and Emily's confrontation the other night, I'm relieved to report that it just kind of dissipated which is good cause I really hate when stuff like that lingers. Basically, Emily was having one of those nights where she wanted to get crazy but everybody else was really mellow and just there to chill. Her psychobabble was nothing but an overzealous attempt to spark my energy, but it came across as being more obnoxious than encouraging so after I shoved her out of my face, the night ended right then and there. When you're throwing out judgemental cards like that, you can't invade someone's space the way she did, and let's just say that I'm really glad that I held my temper cause she got that "Gray" adrenaline rushing through me. Once I settled down, wrote in my blog, and quit shaking, I initiated the round of apologies, and that was it. So everything's cool at least until Emily decides to use another one of her "alcoholic" cards on me. She's got two strikes against her so if she's smart, she'll shut the hell up because I've heard just about enough.

Now that I've made myself out to be a huge bitch with a temper (what can I say? I've never been scared to stick up for myself thanks to having three brothers who conditioned me to be that way), I'll move on to more positive things. I finally joined the rest of the world and got a mini iPod (blue with my name engraved on the back....it's so cool!) I got it because Nicki and I have been training for the Peachtree Roadrace. I have an AM/FM radio, but I'm so ADD that once the commercials come on, I get bored. So, now I can listen to all of my motivational songs that keep my adrenaline levels high so that I don't focus on the pain in my legs. It's really cool (in spite of what Kit says) and I can use it in my car too which is nice. I don't know why, but I'm really excited about it and would recommend it to anyone.

So like I said, we've been doing a lot of training lately, and I've been so extremely proud of myself. I decided to participate in the Peachtree Roadrace because Nicki does it every year and her dad is a member of the Atlanta Track Club so he was able to get me a number. Since coming to college, my biggest accomplishments have revolved around stupid things like getting football tickets really cheap for all my friends who want to come and watch the Dawgs play, being able to claim our tailgate spot every time, making time to workout at least 3 times a week, learning to cook, and surviving each semester. Nothing worth recieving public attention, but in my defense, I was an overachiever in high school so college has been very chill and with as crazy as my schedule gets, there's no way I could fit anything else in. But this summer, I'm only taking one class which only lasts 4 weeks so I don't have to worry about too much homework and studying, so I decided that I should do something that would give me a sense of accomplishment. I've always hated running although when I run, it really tones me up and slims me down, but even that hasn't always been motivation enough to get my ass out there. I watched Nicki train for Peachtree last year, and I thought she was crazy for running a 10k in the million-degree weather on the 4th of July, but at the same time I thought that was really cool and was envious of her ability to complete such a feat. When I expressed my interest about running Peachtree with her this year, I really thought I was just kidding myself and that there would be no way in hell that I could do it, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to try. This was going to be the last summer I could do it since there's no telling where I'm going to be and what kind of plans I'll have after December, so it was pretty much now or never. She was very encouraging and excited about the idea of having a running partner, so I gave her the nod and committed to training with her.

Well things were going pretty good at first and we were on schedule, but we got slowed down a little when I came home from my brother's graduation and Nicki got caught up with Maymester presentations and finals. My emotions were exhausting me when I got back due to family drama, so I was less than motivated to go running but managed to drag my lazy ass out of bed last Sunday to run on the treadmill. At this point, we had been running like 2.5 miles and it was taking around 25:00 minutes (yeah, we're slow, but we're more focused on quantity of miles, not the quality of each mile.) Well, I get on the treadmill and after the first mile, my legs had gone completely numb. I figured that this was due to my laziness, so I gave it another try the next day and got the same result. Talk about frustrated! This had never happened before. On top of the numbness in my legs, my arthritis-stricken knees were killing me to the point where I couldn't walk, much less run. So I got online and did some research on the ACSM (American College of Sports Medicine) website and found this type of shin-splint known as compartment syndrome which occurs when the surface area of the fascia around the muscles does not expand at the same rate as the muscle hypertrophies thus restricting the flow of blood and oxygen to your muscles. I didn't want to be too dramatic about what I thought I had, so I decided to make further inquiries with the physical therapist I've been shadowing at ARMC and she confirmed my finding although she said that I would probably have to go to an orthopedic doctor to have it formally diagnosed. I was devastated, especially since the only remedy was surgery.....my goal was becoming unattainable due to injury and not my own laziness. To me, that was worse cause I can usually muster up motivation to do things, but I hate when there's a physical barrier that prevents me from doing what I want to do. I'm rebellious like that I guess. Well, in the midst of all of this numbness, Nicki continued training and was up to 4 miles. I thought I was done, but the stubbornness in me kicked in, and I gave it one more shot. I went running down Milledge last Tuesday, went for as long as I could go, my right leg went numb a mile into it but I managed to keep running for 4 miles. At least the numbness meant there was no pain, right? I was thrilled, but still very scared that I still wouldn't be able to do it again. The real test came when Nicki and I went running the next day in which the numbness had gotten a little better, but also, I was able to keep up with her as we ran 4.5 miles. We went running again Friday night and went 5 miles, and the numbness was gone. I don't know what it was, but I'm so proud of myself for pushing through it. Nicki said that she hasn't been up to 5 miles in her training 3 weeks before the Peachtree since high school. That was exciting news too because I know that we'll be able to do it. On top of that, my knees feel a million times better, so maybe my body decided to quit arguing with me and just conform to what I wanted to do. Either way, I'm so proud of myself because I've never done anything like this before, and even though Peachtree isn't here yet, there's such a fulfilling sense of accomplishment in what I've done so far. And it's pretty damn awesome.

So, yeah, sorry to write about book about my running experiences, but it was just something I wanted to share with you kids. Don't worry, I actually have some blog ideas in my head so there should be some pretty interesting ones coming. In the mean time, take care.........