Sunday, June 10, 2007

Group Therapy

Some of you that have been following the Blog know that this has been an tough 7 or 8 months. I was training for the Chicago Marathon last fall when I slipped and really banged up my knee. About the time I was getting over that I fell and hurt my back and ended up in the emergency room.

I've been able to run some, walk mostly, since March. And I've been doing all of my running alone.

Yesterday I ran with the Chicago Endurance Sports training group. Most of the participants are getting ready for my race, the Chicago Distance Classic, and/or the Chicago marathon. This was a cut-back week for them so they were "only" running 5 miles.

Jenny asked me to pace the 5/1 run/walk group. I haven't run/walked 5/1 since last fall, so I was a bit concerned. I was worried that my back would tighten up and I'd have to walk.

There's no overestimating the power of the group. I got in there, got talking it up with folks, listened to their stories, told a few of my stories, and just had a great time.

Before I knew it we were nearly finished. My back was sore, but not awful. It was a big emotional hurdle for me to get over.

A big thanks to everyone who helped pull me through.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

John,

Twisted my ankle last week while working on my fastest 5K ever - just starting to train for Chicago in October. Turns out that I have a small tear in one of the ligaments in my ankle. Fortunately, I can work out as long as I use my ankle brace (and i have to wear it until the tear is healed) I am with you when you say it is great to overcome hurdles when you are recovering and I hope you continue to share your stories with all of us!

Lisa Skier

BTW - John is finally reading marathoning for mortals! He loves it and is starting to quote it to me!