I saw this cartoon several months after I had run the Marine Corps Marathon in 2008 and realized that this was me...
Two weeks after I finished the marathon I went out to do an easy 13 miles on a rather beautiful Saturday afternoon. It was a great day for a run. I had knocked out 11.5 miles and was feeling great, I couldn't believe how quickly I had recovered from the MCM. As I was caught up in my thoughts of how cool I was I never saw the SUV come up from behind, drift off the road onto the shoulder I was running on, and clip my left arm. My elbow shattered the side view mirror and ripped the housing right off the side of the truck. The next hour is a fragmented blur of memories that include my dog trying to kill the driver of the truck that hit me, attempting to stay conscious while giving incoherent directions to a panicked dude driving me to my house. I remember my neighbor, an Army combat medic splinting my arm. I remember a lot of blood. I remember nearly puking when the X-ray tech tried to straighten my arm for X-rays. I remember falling in love with my 70 year old nurse when she gave me a shot of Dilauded into my IV line. Once I got the narcotics I remember a whole lot more of what happened.
I wore a cast for the next two weeks. I also got a trophy from my wife. It was a classic trophy with a runner on the top, only she put a sling on the runner's arm. Very funny Heather!
Two weeks later the doctor did a secondary X-ray, and the line in my Humerus, that he thought was a hairline crack, hadn't healed at all. His conclusion was that my arm either wasn't broken or I had something very wrong with me that is preventing my arm from healing. Very fortunately, it turned out to be an "anomaly in my left Humerous". A simple ridge that ran the length of my arm and looked like a hairline crack. However, two weeks of no running psychologically messes with you. But that's not the end, I got the flu. It only hit me for a day, but the after effects seemed to linger for about three weeks. I was so weak that going to work exhausted me. After 5 weeks of no running at all, my spirit was broken. I had no reason to run. No race on the horizon. No goals. Just like our drunken Willey E Coyote.
Finally come Feb 2009 I decided I needed to get back into the swing of things. I ran everyday for three weeks. It was hard. I was just starting to feel good again when in the middle of a long run my left foot started screaming at me. I changed up my stride and started running on my toes, and that worked for about a mile and then the daggers started shooting through my foot. I ended up walking home. The doctor said it was an overuse injury. "Stay off of it for 6 weeks" he said. 6 weeks passed with no running. By that time I was psychologically done. Broken. Not motivated. Not Dedicated. Just didn't care anymore. It was then that I saw this cartoon of Willy E. Coyote.
Running a marathon had been a major milestone in my life. I set a very difficult goal, made a plan, followed the plan, and accomplished the goal. It consumer my life for an entire year and taught me I could do anything. It was an incredibly impactful accomplishment in my life. I had mapped out every point in the journey for 12 months. Once I hit my target I was left with no plan and nowhere to go but down, and I hadn't had the foresight to set another goal to keep me engaged at that level. The end result was that I was now in the same situation as the comical coyote. Now what? I did what I set out to do. What is next? Where is the next challenge?
Getting back into shape hurts. It hurts your legs. It hurts your lungs. It really hurts your pride. It mentally hurts you as well. I used to be able to run X miles at X pace, but now I'm running X miles at X+Y+Z pace. Nothing humbles a man or woman like a long run, well...maybe interval training can. It tears you down into a whimpering, hobbling visage of your former self. I did not enjoy that process.
I am back down to my marathon race weight. I did in two and half months what it took 12 months to do the first time around. I had a lot more confidence that I could do it this time around. I also had a lot more training and nutritional experience than the first time around. Had I had a doctor around he/she might have yelled at me for the way I did it, but Oh well, I'm alive and it seems I'm healthy.
The moral of this long winded post is that we should never become complacent. We always need to have a goal that we have our sights set on, some sort of challenge that pushes us to step outside of our comfort zone. I learned that I need to have follow-up goals before I reach the 50 meter target. The goal this time around is to run marathons in preparation for a 50 mile ultra marathon in preparation for a 100 mile ultra marathon. That alone will keep me busy for the next few years. However, applying lessons learned, I will keep adding to the list of goals long before I get anywhere near goal accomplishment. NEVER STOP CHALLENGING YOURSELF. If you find that you are comfortable in life, you are not growing. There is no growth in comfort mode and no comfort in growth mode. Don't be like Wiley E.
Two weeks later the doctor did a secondary X-ray, and the line in my Humerus, that he thought was a hairline crack, hadn't healed at all. His conclusion was that my arm either wasn't broken or I had something very wrong with me that is preventing my arm from healing. Very fortunately, it turned out to be an "anomaly in my left Humerous". A simple ridge that ran the length of my arm and looked like a hairline crack. However, two weeks of no running psychologically messes with you. But that's not the end, I got the flu. It only hit me for a day, but the after effects seemed to linger for about three weeks. I was so weak that going to work exhausted me. After 5 weeks of no running at all, my spirit was broken. I had no reason to run. No race on the horizon. No goals. Just like our drunken Willey E Coyote.
Finally come Feb 2009 I decided I needed to get back into the swing of things. I ran everyday for three weeks. It was hard. I was just starting to feel good again when in the middle of a long run my left foot started screaming at me. I changed up my stride and started running on my toes, and that worked for about a mile and then the daggers started shooting through my foot. I ended up walking home. The doctor said it was an overuse injury. "Stay off of it for 6 weeks" he said. 6 weeks passed with no running. By that time I was psychologically done. Broken. Not motivated. Not Dedicated. Just didn't care anymore. It was then that I saw this cartoon of Willy E. Coyote.
Running a marathon had been a major milestone in my life. I set a very difficult goal, made a plan, followed the plan, and accomplished the goal. It consumer my life for an entire year and taught me I could do anything. It was an incredibly impactful accomplishment in my life. I had mapped out every point in the journey for 12 months. Once I hit my target I was left with no plan and nowhere to go but down, and I hadn't had the foresight to set another goal to keep me engaged at that level. The end result was that I was now in the same situation as the comical coyote. Now what? I did what I set out to do. What is next? Where is the next challenge?
Getting back into shape hurts. It hurts your legs. It hurts your lungs. It really hurts your pride. It mentally hurts you as well. I used to be able to run X miles at X pace, but now I'm running X miles at X+Y+Z pace. Nothing humbles a man or woman like a long run, well...maybe interval training can. It tears you down into a whimpering, hobbling visage of your former self. I did not enjoy that process.
I am back down to my marathon race weight. I did in two and half months what it took 12 months to do the first time around. I had a lot more confidence that I could do it this time around. I also had a lot more training and nutritional experience than the first time around. Had I had a doctor around he/she might have yelled at me for the way I did it, but Oh well, I'm alive and it seems I'm healthy.
The moral of this long winded post is that we should never become complacent. We always need to have a goal that we have our sights set on, some sort of challenge that pushes us to step outside of our comfort zone. I learned that I need to have follow-up goals before I reach the 50 meter target. The goal this time around is to run marathons in preparation for a 50 mile ultra marathon in preparation for a 100 mile ultra marathon. That alone will keep me busy for the next few years. However, applying lessons learned, I will keep adding to the list of goals long before I get anywhere near goal accomplishment. NEVER STOP CHALLENGING YOURSELF. If you find that you are comfortable in life, you are not growing. There is no growth in comfort mode and no comfort in growth mode. Don't be like Wiley E.
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