The Great Retreat

For weeks I've been retreating. Today I am supposed to be flying home to Cape Cod to run the great Falmouth Road Race on Sunday, but obviously that isn't happening. This is the 3rd race or so I've pulled out of this summer. In fact, I haven't raced since April. There is nothing I can do but keep retreating. Soon I'll halt, turn, and begin the march back.

Yesterday I met a personal trainer named Mandy at Golds Gym in DC. A recent Colby graduate, Mandy had contacted me about running for GRC. I explained how we lacked women and needed women and she noted how she always trains with guys. Sounds good. She's been wanting to meet up to run, but I haven't been running. We traded some messages and she noted I should try the elliptical. Water running was becoming tedious, so I was ready to try anything. I entered the gym and immediate shivered; I hate gyms. Mandy is a workout fanatic who literally works out for a living. Within seconds I was on the floor doing an intense ab routine that almost brought tears to my eyes. Mandy smiled through all of it. She got drunk off of it. After twenty minutes of what felt like being kicked in the gut, I was on the elliptical. I've done the elliptical before but I find it awkward and yesterday was no exception. After 10 minutes my lower back hurt but I toughed it out for 20 minutes...then I jumped on a different machine (apparently there are two types of ellipticals). I called it quits after another 20 minutes, thanked Crazy Mandy for the ab routine (which I had actually requested since my core needs improvement) and then headed home.

I woke up on Friday and headed to the pool for a water run, which I've concluded does more for me than the elliptical, but I hopped out of the pool after 10 minutes because the muscle below my left hip was hurting. Great. I assume this is just a muscle thing, but I want to be cautious. I am hoping that I'll finally put the breaks on the retreat this weekend. I haven't felt my groin in days (wow that sounds weird) and my body feels oddly strong from doing these various stretches/exercises. Tonight I head to the track so that Sarah can see how I am fairing. Tomorrow morning, if I am feeling okay, I may head out for a real run. I have my fingers crossed.