Overcoming Part II. (Do hard things)

I wonder what it was like for Michaelangelo to paint the Sistine Chapel, upside down on scaffolding hundreds of feet in the air for four years. Creating an enormous, world-renowned masterpiece that still astonishes viewers 500 years later must have been challenging, yet there they are. Our ability to overcome adversarial conditions to create the world around us (and within) leads to remarkable experiences if we push ourselves to do so.

If you caught Overcoming Part I. then you know I suffered the unexpected setback of a stress fracture as I was preparing for the Marine Corps Marathon's 50K in early August of this year. As a result, I was physically in pain and mentally I found myself in a dark place. I had invested a lot of time in researching and training for this race, not to mention psyching myself up to register in the first place. I'm usually a consistent 8 out of 10 on the cheerful scale and this experience put me way down to maybe a 4 or 5. I am a firm believer in mood follows motion and if I wanted to break free of the mopiness, I had to do something. You can not think you're way out of a state of mind, but what you can do is change your environment and the trait of your energy. While I was unable to run, I was still able to train my cardiovascular system to be able to take on the prolonged strain I would endure during my first endurance race and that's what I did and if I decided to show up on race day, without the ability to prepare my legs for three months prior, I would be hoping the first four months of training would be sufficient to carry me across the finish line.

After weeks of rowing and biking to improve heart health, the time had come to make a decision on whether that effort was enough to give me the confidence to show up or if I should defer my registration from this year to the next. The deadline to defer was September 25th and my next doctor's appointment with the orthopedist was on the 27th. That appointment would determine whether I had healed enough to run, but unfortunately, I needed to decide on deferment two days before. I could tell the leg had improved, but there was no way of knowing if it would hold up for 31 miles of running on asphalt. Ultimately, I decided to not defer and to run the race! YOLO! That decision brought mixed reactions from my loved ones, but I decided that no matter what happened I would be content with just showing up to experience the energy of my first major marathon, and if I felt any pain related to the injury I would stop. I made a deal with myself that if I could do just that, I would be satisfied and not disappointed if I was unable to finish. Gratefully, two days later, the doctor said I was clear, but slowly and with caution. With one month to go until the big day, I had no signs of a fracture and continued with my physical therapy, cross-training, consistent sleep, and a healthy diet. Perhaps with all of this in concert, it would be enough to finish?

The first run after the injury was on a treadmill, a forgiving surface that is not recommended as a primary tool when preparing for a road race since it doesn't provide your legs with the necessary conditions for building strain and as a result strength. However, it was the first step in determining my outlook for race day. After not having run for two months, I ran five miles at my intended race pace with no sign of injury. Words can't describe the feelings I had at this moment. I was on cloud nine (and slightly in disbelief), raising my arms in the air as if I had won a gold medal and woo-hoo'ing my way out of the gym. I was feeling extremely optimistic, but the ultimate test was yet to come.

Stay tuned for the final installment. Life is Work!