Dam(n)

It’s 6:06 a.m. on Saturday, June 4 (oh wow, I’m turning into my dad). I’ve been wide awake since 4:44 a.m. You see, I’m not supposed to be sitting here at a computer. I’m supposed to be on a bus headed to Saylorville to run Dam to Dam today. But God had other plans. So did the softball that hit me directly on top of the foot four weeks ago.

After initially being told it was broken, the doctor (and I use that term loosely) called back eight hours later to tell me another radiologist reviewed it and read it as “normal.” If only my foot felt normal. I tried to run once, about 2.2 miles to be exact, and the entire run my thoughts went back and forth from, “Yeah, this isn’t so bad…I could totally still do Dam to Dam,” to “Sweet baby J, make the pain stop.”

Lots of tears were shed these past few weeks as my brain slowly came to the conclusion that a 12.4 mile race probably wasn’t the best long-term decision for my foot. My ego doesn’t agree and still isn’t talking to me. I asked several friends for advice prior to today. One, who knows me better than anyone in the world, told me just to try the 20k and see what happened. She doesn’t wish pain upon me (at least I hope you don’t Ericka) but she said I wouldn’t be satisfied running just the 5k or cheering Rob on from the sidelines (probably true, though I am very excited for Rob). Others told me just to skip the whole thing. The thought of that just gives me a case of the Bummers.

It wasn’t until yesterday at packet pickup that I finally decided….drumroll please…to run the 5k. I can walk if the pain gets to be too unbearable and still finish, rather than realizing somewhere in the middle of miles 7-8 that I made the worse decision of my life. I remember how difficult the Lincoln half marathon was in 2009 and I was injury free and in shape. Did I mention I’ve run once in the last four weeks? Probably not the best training regimen if you’re about to embark on a 12 mile journey.

The good news is I will get to see Rob finish before my race starts at 9:45. I’m so proud of him for all his hard work in preparation for today. He hasn’t stuck to a strict running schedule, but he’s one of those annoying, natural-abilitied people who can just go out and run a 20k without batting an eye. If he’s reading this while waiting for the race to start (gotta love iPhones) good luck dear!

Who knows how I’ll feel at the end of the 5k and in all reality, who cares at this point. Eventually my foot will heal and there will be other Dam(n) races.