So, all my sisters-in-law are cool for various reasons. I could get an inferiority complex, or I could try and be as cool as they are. I am aiming for the latter. One of them, just finished running a marathon. That's impressive. It's even more impressive when you find out she ran the last part with a broken foot! Yeah, went to the doctor a day after the race to find out what all the pain and huge bruise meant. Just a stress fracture. So after we all bowed down to her impressive toughness, I decided I wanted to be her when I grew up. Two weeks ago, I started finally growing up.
Every day I have managed to walk/run at least 4-5 kilometers on our elliptical machine. Last Saturday, I went out for my first run in the real world. About halfway through, my knee started to ache, but I kept on going, telling myself that if Colleen could do it on a broken foot, I could do it on a sore knee. Then, as I was coming home, the neighbors who had seen me running as I left, were still out in their yard cutting their hedges. I had been about to slow down and walk, but instead, I kicked it up a notch, so as not to embarrass myself in front of them. Even ran up the steps to the front door. Of course, once inside, I leaned up against the wall and panted for a bit before tackling the three flights of stairs up to our apartment.
The next day, my knee hurt so bad, I almost didn't want to go to church. But I managed to hobble around, in my high heels no less, and got through the day okay. I noticed that the more I walked on it, the less stiff it was. So Monday morning, I hopped back on the elliptical machine and started walking away. I couldn't give in, you see, because I had made a goal. The long term goal is to run a half-marathon in Utah next summer when we come to visit. The first short-term goal to help me reach the long term goal was to run in a 6.6 kilometer race around the Uetliberg, a mountain in Zurich. I had already paid my entrance fee, and I didn't want to let a little thing like a bum knee ruin it.
Saturday was a gorgeous day for running. The sun was shining, but it was nice and cool so you wouldn't get overheated. Chris and the kids dropped me off at the race starting point and then went to do a little shopping at the nearby mall.
The race went through a forest, on a big loop, so there wasn't really a good spot to sit and watch me run. But they wished me luck and were very hopeful that I would "win". I kept telling them I was just hoping to finish! The start of the race is rather misleading, because you run down a rather steep hill for quite a while. Then it flattens out nicely for a bit, and goes around a curve into the forest. What I didn't know was after this curve, it was pretty much uphill the entire rest of the way, including back up that steep grade from the beginning, at the end! The runners in my group went around the track twice, and I seriously contemplated stopping after the first go-round.
But I kept on at it, and didn't walk as much as I thought I would, either. My knee did hurt, but nothing excruciating, so I just ignored it. I had the Ipod with me, belting out fast paced tunes to keep my rhythm up, and some senior citizen nordic walkers behind me for extra motivation. It was a tad humiliating to get passed up by someone older than my own mother, but oh well. Everyone has to start somewhere. I called Chris just as I was nearing the end, but I apparently miscalculated how long it would take me to make it back up that hill, so they arrived just as I crossed the finish line. They were all very proud of me, and were happy to see that I did not, in fact, come in last. I came in at around 40 minutes, which is what I had predicted it would take me based on my times at home.
It was exhausting, but fun. There is another run in November, but that is for a longer distance than I am ready for. There is also a shorter one on New Year's Day, but that sounds awfully cold! I am not sure if I will do that one or not. In the meantime, I will continue to train and prepare for the big run next year. Meanwhile, my knee still hurts when I bend it, but I can walk okay, so I won't panic yet.