The Joys of Running by Marilyn

Photo by Marilyn Nimz

This past Saturday, I planned to do my normal run with the Oklahoma Landrunners. Our training plan for the OKC Marathon required that we run 10 miles this week. 10 miles sounded like a breeze compared to last weekend.


Well last week happened to be somewhat busy for us and for some reason I couldn't say no to anything and even added more to our schedule on top of that. So I was really loving any sleep I could get. I guess Friday night I wasn't thinking when I set my alarm and didn't allow myself enough time to get ready. The night before, I laid out my clothing, but I didn't get a water bottle ready or my earphones (which manage to hide themselves everywhere around our home; i.e. pockets, drawers, cup holders, the laundry, etc). Saturday morning when I woke up, I didn't get up right away, but when I did, realized I was late. I texted my friends to let them know I would be 5 minutes late.

When I arrived and was parking my car, I noticed the group was leaving to begin the run and by the time I found a parking spot, I was able to catch up with the tail end of the group. My friends were somewhere in the crowd and I thought by chance maybe I could catch up with them. So I ran hard. Adrenaline was pumping through me and had me in a cold sweat even though it was 34 degrees. My eyes were also watering making it hard to see.

If you ever get into running, you'll notice that there are only so many bright/reflective colors you can wear (hilighter versions of pink, orange, green, and blue in case you were wondering). I began looking for my friends amongst the crowd and saw colored jackets I knew they had. But every time I would think I found one of them, of course it was not them. While running and not paying attention to my feet, I managed to step into a crack. And then like slow motion, my body started to fall... Luckily I was able to catch myself with my left leg, but tweaked it weird so that the pressure was on my knee. I thought to myself, "Good recovery." And continued to run obliviously.

4 miles later, my left knee began to feel funny. And after running around 6 miles, my knee was hurting. I had to stop and stretch it a few times. And then it happened. I had to run/walk, but mostly walk the last 3 miles. I saw my friends during the last half of the run as we reached the turnaround point, but I didn't want to slow them down and had other Landrunners with me the whole time anyway.

Lesson of the story: Be on time and go to bed on time. And don't overbook your life so that it is impossible for your body to keep up with your schedule.

At this point, we will see if a marathon is still in my future for April. Although I haven't run on it since then, my knee seems to be recovering well. I'll keep you posted.