Reflecting

Today I spoke to the management group at the Fort Collins Coloradoan, our local paper. I talked about my experience at Badwater and tied together the lessons I learned and how the crew worked together to make it a successful run, applying these lessons to the business world. It was fun. I can talk forever about running.

It's fun to answer questions about the run and reflect on what I learned. The publisher asked me what surprised me the most. I answered that it was how much pain I found I was able to withstand. Every time I talk about the race and think about it, something new occurs to me. It hasn't faded yet. I don't think about it constantly like I used to, but every few days I am reminded of something and I'm able to slip back into that dream world and lose myself in Death Valley again.


I'm back to running again. I'm up to running an hour at a time, most days. I've been waking up early before work and doing my runs, but it's getting to the point now where my run is long enough that I have to get up too early. It's hard to wake up at 3:30 or 4 in the morning, go running, and then work a 12 hour day that doesn't end until 7:30 pm.

I have been enjoying my early morning runs though. It's not as light in the mornings now and I've been enjoying the feel of night running again. That's something to look forward to as the days continue to get shorter.


I discovered a new place to run. Right now there are too many bugs to enjoy it most days unless there's a breeze, but once the cool weather hits this fall I am going to spend more time out there. It's dirt, gravel and asphalt paths and it makes some nice loops, perfect training for Across the Years.




Last week one morning I was at work, before getting report on my patient assignment for the day, and one of the employees from Facilities at the hospital came up to ICU and asked if he could give me a hug to thank me for doing my run for the Cancer Care Fund. He told me that he just had his PET scan and is cancer free. It completely took me by surprise, and he was so nice. It made me cry.

Between doing the run and getting so caught up in everything related to preparation for it, and then coming back and jumping into my usual routine, I haven't had much of a chance to think about the fundraising and charitable aspect of running Badwater. This was a reminder of how important the work of the Foundation and all the efforts to support initiatives like the Cancer Center and the Cancer Care Fund and research are to the real people, the individuals whose lives are directly impacted by cancer.

I have noticed that my body isn't quite ready to crank up the intensity of my workouts yet. I learned this painfully a couple of weeks ago. I rode to Flatiron Reservoir and I stopped at the top of a hill to look at my map. I forgot to take my feet out my cleats. I think I was tired. I tipped over and crashed on my left side, fortunately I wasn't going fast and there was no traffic. I got this nice chainring tattoo to show for it. I'm going to have to wait to increase my running miles and time on the bike, I can tell I'm not ready yet.

As far as my recovery goes, my feet are doing well. They are still peeling but I found that I needed new shoes at work. My feet were getting sore. It's funny how I think nothing of changing running shoes every few weeks but when it comes to work shoes, I was wearing the same pair that I got when I started nearly 2 years ago!

I've been tired and it seems like no matter how many days off work I have, I'm never recovered enough by the time I go back. It's been busy lately and it finally caught up with me this week. I had to take a day just to sleep and rest and do nothing. I did go and get some labs drawn including my thyroid, since I have a doctor's appointment next week, but other than that I couldn't motivate myself to do anything but walk the dogs. Fortunately I have 5 days off coming up after tomorrow. I need to go to the cabin before summer is over. Maybe this weekend.