Sunday morning musings

Well, the cake is gone. Really, it didn’t stand much of a chance – two cake lovers in the house and all. There’s just something so special about yellow cake with chocolate frosting, decorated in giant heart made up of Peanut M&Ms.

Three days was its lifespan, and actually, if you think about it: 1 cake + 2 cake lovers + 3 days = success! It was not devoured in the first day, nor was it picked at by yours truly. You know what I mean. One or two M&Ms here or there, a paper-thin sliced from one side – and then a paper thin sliced from the other side (it has to look even!), and before you know it, you’ve got one very sad-looking piece of cake.

Happily, Nathaniel and I divvied up his cake into 8 slices and enjoyed each and every one together – another record. Last year at this time, while I was training heavily for my end-of-season races, he had to hide the cake. I couldn’t trust myself to be alone with the thing.

Suffice to say on cake preservation, I’ve come a long way.

In other news, if you’re a coffee drinker who relies on coffee mate to make your coffee taste good, make sure the lid is completely snapped on before you give it a good shake. Trust me on this one. Otherwise you’ll have extra sweet creamer all over the counters and floor. Great for the Mini Monster, but bad in every other sense of the way.

Makes me want to go back to drinking my coffee black (but don’t tell Nathaniel that). Actually, I do enjoy my coffee straight up – usually when its really hot outside or the mornings of a race. But generally – I confess – I drink my coffee with a skirt.

And I’m proud to admit it.

In my training, things are going great. I really feel like my old self. For 21 days I have not missed a workout – a record since my crash. Are they 5 hour bike rides? Nope. 2 hour runs? Absolutely not. But that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy them any less.

Recently I’ve found my love for running again. I knew it would return, just when was the key. Running has always been time for myself; I clear my head, think about things, enjoy nature, and sometimes just let my mind wander. For so long I forced myself to run on the treadmill, as it was too bloody hot to run outside in the afternoon.

Once I figured out that I could set an alarm to beat the Florida heat and humidity (within reason), it made all the difference in the world. At first I was slow- painfully slow. Running through the Scenic Hills neighborhood and on the UWF Campus. I hoped that no one recognized me. But gradually, my form improved, my cadence quickened, and yesterday as I was running up a hill, I realized that 1) I was loving my run and 2) I was increasing the pace, without making myself.

I was feeling great!

When I finished the run, I realized how much fun it was turning out to be. Here I was, falling back in love with a sport I had missed for so long. I am so lucky with how my body healed – the slightest complication could have had me paralyzed or worse. And though its taken a lot of time and a lot of growth on my part, I was doing it!

Even though I had finished my run (and tacked on an additional 10 minutes), I felt that I could have gone out for another hour. I was so happy, so excited, nearly bursting at the seams to go again.

Common sense took over, though, and I made myself stretch (tight calves = unpleasant night sleep!) and find a bathroom (the woods!).

As for today – well, workout wise I’ve got the day off. However I DID set the alarm for 6 am, just in case the itch to run took over. It didn’t, and I realize that I am normal. Instead I made coffee, sprayed coffee creamer everywhere, and am enjoying the solitude of a wonderful living room. The Fat Grey Cat is sitting outside on her table, and The Mini Monster is curled up next to me, front legs sticking out at a wonky angle.

Later, Nathaniel and I are going to try our hands at rock climbing. We’ve gone before and had a blast. It’s pretty neat to climb up a giant wall: the sense of accomplishment, of working your hardest towards something is pretty neat. Like sports or triathlon – or even life, I suppose. The hard part? Once you reach the top you’ve gotta let go and “fall” back to the ground. Of course the belayer is ensuring your safety and is gently feeding rope into the thingy (lack of specific term, I’m sorry) – so really you won’t hurt yourself. Or anyone on the ground.

But at that moment of letting go to the wall when you’re 40 feet up, and momentarily suspended in mid-air – that’s tough. But we all do it in one sense or another. Intuitively we’ve got our safety harness and people supporting us from below – but we need to take a leap and let go. Weather it’s in a race, with a personal struggle, or any other facet of life, sometimes we need to just let go and not follow our instinct.

You never the good that might happen when you do.