1/2 Marathon Aspirations Dashed

After completing the Detroit Turkey Trot 10k race on Thanksgiving Day I decided my next step in running would be to complete a 1/2 marathon.  I planned to run in the Free Press Marathon held in October.

I had been preparing for the race, lengthening my runs when I decided one fateful day in April to run while pushing my 1 year old son in a stroller.  The problem that I discovered shortly into the run was that his stroller constantly veers to the left.  This meant that every few paces I was forced to correct its direction.  Doing so was putting an enormous strain on my right knee and when it was done, my knee was in some serious pain.  The day after, the same thing.  And the next day, and the next day.  Eventually, the pain went away and I decided to go out for a run again. 

What I found was that I could run and be fine that day, but the next day is when I would feel the pain.  It would last for a day and then go away.  This would be okay, I thought, because I could still run every other day, taking a day off while my knee hurt to return to running the next day.  I continued this way throughout May and into part of June and the knee never improved.  So I figured I would rest it through June and July and try again in August.  This would still give me two months to train and prepare for the race in October.

Well, today was my first run since June.  I decided to take it easy by starting off with a 3 mile jog with some speed intervals thrown in every few minutes.  The run started well, but before the half-way point I could feel some tightness and pain in my knee.  Even now as I type, I can feel it.  Needless the say, the rest did it no good and it looks like my plan for the 1/2 marathon is done for.  Beyond that, I don’t know if I’ll be able to participate in this year’s Turkey Trot.

It looks like I’ll have to visit a doctor to see what’s wrong with it and how to fix it.  That’ll have to wait until I get a job and medical insurance though.  Anyway, I’m a little bummed and wanted to take a few minutes to blog about it.

Paradigm shift

I read an article last week in my Men’s Health magazine that really changed the way I look at finding a new job.  It also affected they way I view my time while unemployed.  You can find the article here.

The main points of the article are to use your time to work on your fitness, say yes to community projects that come your way, avoid jumping at the first job offers, and enjoy your time by planning something big.

Now, to discuss how I have taken these lessons to heart. 

Health: A few years ago, I was rudely awoken to my poor fitness when my sister invited me to run the annual Detroit Turkey Trot 10K race on Thanksgiving Day.  I had run this race every year from age 9-17.  I could count on one hand, however, the number of times I had gone for a run since my High School Cross Country career ended.  Fortunately for me I was smart enough to realize that a 10K would be stretching it so I agreed to the 5K instead.  On the day of the race, I was utterly exhausted after 2K’s and my sister, who had never been much of a runner, blew me away.  I ended up finishing the 3.1 miles with a time of like 36 minutes.

I was embarrassed.  Ashamed, I committed to a new way of life.  To make a long story short, I got a membership to a gym and started getting in shape.  (I’ll definitely make my work out renaissance the topic for another day.)  Anyway, the point is that I had already changed my life prior to my unemployment.  The difference now though is that instead of cramming in 45-60 minutes in the morning, I can take as much time as I want on my workouts.  I can also do two workouts a day, if I see fit to do so.

Community:I have many passions in life.  It turns out, my community had an opportunity that combines two of them very nicely.  As a tee ball coach, I have resuscitated my love of teaching, and have joined it with my love of baseball.  A friend of mine has been a little league coach for a few years.  Shortly after my layoff I approached him to see if he needed any help with his team.  To my disappointment he said he had enough help.  However, he gave me the contact information for the director of the tee ball league who told me about a team that did not have a coach.  Of course I volunteered, and now the Harper Woods Comanches are my team of prodigies.

Job offers: Sadly, this has been an easy one to live up to.  Aside from a couple of recruiter interviews, the job search has been rather slow.  In the past week or two, things have heated up, but nothing that has been a true job offer.  Having said that, I have taken the attitude that I am in charge of my own destiny.  I am having the time of my life with my family and baseball team, and really enjoying the summer sabbatical.  Most important of all, I am getting to know who I am – what I like and what my strengths are.  I know that a job will come.  And when the time comes I will be make sure that the job is right for me.

Something big: Planning big things can be a bit challenging with a very limited budget, but I do have a couple vacation plans for the summer.  In mid-July I will be getting together with my parents and sisters and our families for a trip up to Mackinac Island in upper Michigan.  Also, Rachel and I will be celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary in August.  To fete our special occasion we are taking a road trip to Hilton Head Island in South Carolina to spend a week without the kids.  Just a quiet time on the beach by ourselves.  We are really looking forward to it.

In the end, the article from Men’s Health really started to spur a change within me.  I’ve experience a paradigm shift.  I’m happier and more accepting of my unemployment.  In fact, I embrace it and the challenges and growth opportunities it affords me.