Tuesday, July 2, 2024 – Appreciating our health

Hi Everyone!

Happy Canada Day and Happy Pride! I kind of like how we celebrate both of those things together – incorporating the values of Pride with the values of our country feels important. And let’s be honest – it makes the celebration way more fun. Congrats to everyone who raced this weekend! At the Ontario Masters Club Championships (AO’s), Pearce came first in the “true” masters of over-40 and silver overall in the 5K on the track in a new PB of 16:38! At the Pride 5K, we had Bob, Anna, Jeff (sub-19) and Graeme (20:35). Way to go everyone!

What I’ve been thinking about this week has been health. Specifically physical health. Back in December, I pulled a hamstring fairly significantly, to the point where I could hobble, but not run with full flexion or extension of my leg. I finally rehabbed it up to being just about stable, when I threw my back out, and was reduced to less than hobbling – there were a few days in there where I could only take one small shaky step at a time, and maxed out at about 5 before I had to sit down. There were a few moments there where I thought “I don’t even care if I can never run fast again – I just want to be able to run!” My first few shaky runs back involved little steps and some pain, but I was so grateful to be moving. At that point I thought “I can’t even imagine trusting my body enough to run as hard as I physically can”. I didn’t care what time that effort or feeling resulted in – I just wanted to be able to move my body in the way that made it feel fluid and fast. 6 months later I have managed to get back to that state. I have run two 1500 meter races where the training and racing have allowed me to run as fast as I can, with the only limitations being my training and ability. I am a few seconds slower than I was last year (I’m taking one more crack at it, so I might get closer), but my big victory is that I’ve been able to bring my sense of gratitude and appreciation of what my body is allowing me to do, in my workouts and races. In February I never would have believed that I’d be able to get back to putting a full effort into my body while running. So that is what I am focusing on: the feeling, not the times.

Most of us have been through health challenges, and likely almost all of us will go through various health challenges in the future. Some will be more serious or last longer than others. I’m not saying this to be a bummer, but just as a reminder to appreciate what we have when we have it. Are you a few seconds or minutes slower than last year? Maybe. (and maybe not by the way – many in this group are still getting PB’s). But can you train hard, run uphills until your legs wobble, sprint until the lactic acid surges, run so long that your sweat forms salt crystals on your skin, repeat intervals to the point where you can feel your heart beating in your head? If you can do that, appreciate it. Not many people can and not many people do. Does all that work result in a fast enough time for you to be happy with? Meh. That’s not really the point. The point is, you can go for it. Enjoy the ride.

On to tomorrow’s workout! Back to Lakeshore and Leslie – 6:05 drills, 6:15 GO!

1.       4 x 600 w 1:15 rest. 3 min set rest. 4 x 600 w 2:00 rest. You get the idea. The first set are more aerobic, the second set asks for a little more pace. I’m thinking 10K-ish pace for the first set, 5K or faster if you can for the second.
2.       If going by time, 4 x 2 mins w 1 min (just to make it easier), 3 min easy, 4 x 2 mins w 2 mins faster.

That is all – see you in the am!

xo

Seanna