A quote for all of us

“I wanted you to see what real courage is... It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do.” ~Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, Chapter 11, spoken by the character Atticus

See it through. Whatever happens happens, but SEE IT THROUGH.

I am not running this week. I had some real problems with my running over the weekend and was also fighting sickness on top of it. I took Monday and Tuesday completely OFF of any exercise. For the rest of this week I am cross training on the elliptical and the stationary bike. I might also use the stair climber but that depends on how my knee and butt feel in the first few minutes on that thing. My ankle and foot are better, but I'm still feeling some twinges here and there and I do not like that at all.

Turns out that I am running "mostly healthy" but I REALLY need to be running completely healthy. By running mostly healthy, I'm slowly weakening what is already weak. Next week I will be running VERY EASY miles and cross training for the harder workouts, still doing my ancillary exercises and stretching.

I am going to be using the rest of 2009 for what I had originally intended... a year of building a good, solid base of miles the Arthur Lydiard way. Let me just sum up Lydiard by saying it's NOT long, slow distance running, it's running at a steady state for long period (say, an hour to two hours) so that your steady state gets faster over time. Later on, it also includes hill resistance work, anaerobic and speed development, and sharpening (during race training seasons).

I'll still be working with a coach through the rest of the year and he'll guide me back to strength. He knows my long term goals in this sport of running and he believes my goals are attainable, provided I get healthy, and not just "mostly healthy." He also said that at some point I may have to find a more seasoned coach to get me the next level. I truly appreciate his honesty. The guy is solid. A stellar runner and competitor who knows his limits as a coach.

I spoke with my husband about my goals and he's on board as my support crew. My kids kind of look at me with curiosity when I tell them my goals... and that's okay. I think they'll begin to understand more as time goes by.

But for now, it's all about 100% health, not 90%. I'll still be racing very short distances and possibly a Half Marathon later this year, but as of now it's just short stuff on my calendar.

See it through no matter what.