Back in the saddle again?

So.... Three months into my injury and getting better, though slowly, I, dear friends, am going out of my mind. I had my yoga class yesterday, which has been a constant bright spot at the beginning of all of my weeks for the past eight months. I had some time to kill between work and class, so I decided to grab a cup of tea at Gallery Espresso. (The staff can be a little uppity, and the clientele a little dirty/pretentious, but I guess we are talking about a locally run coffee shop that serves quality products so I guess I'll give them a little slack because it is after all to be expected.) (Oh yeah, and they serve Mariage Fréres Tea which is freaking phenominal.) So after my Baroness Grey (of course) I noticed a little bike shop next to the coffee shop and I walked in, because I have been looking for an alternative to running.

I would like to say that I have taken my own advise and followed the octopus' wisdom and started swimming regularly, but I regret to inform you that I haven't. I miss the accessibility of running where I'm out the door and on my way. I know I'm being very anti-inspirational about it, but when I planned a run in the morning, I was always excited enough about it to actually get up out of my bed in the morning and go outside and into the world to go run. It was great. Swimming, on the other hand, isn't so simple. I have to have my bag packed with two towels, all of my clothing to wear for the day, shampoo, conditioner, soap plus a baggie to put the soggy mess into afterwards, shoes. Strap myself into my bathing suit (a tumultuous task) in a groggy stupor, and get out my door with at least two hours to spare before work. Oh yeah, and I have to worry about waiting for a lane to open up, keep my eyes peeled for the naked cyclops in the dressing room. (Seriously, nothing against the one-eyed population but when she is naked and waving at a 5 year old girl, it's a lot to handle at 8:30-am.) So anyway, it's just difficult. I can't get my head around being that prepared all the time.

So, back to the bike shop at hand-- Perry Rubber. Replace those b's with n's and what do you have? Runner. (Sorry, sometimes I become a little involved with silly word play.) Anyway, I talked to this very nice guy about biking and how foreign it is to me (well. I know how to ride a bike, but that's pretty much the extent of my cycling knowledge... I guess I have that going for me at least). He thought it would be a great alternative to running. He actually had a similar injury that cause him to get into biking. He showed me some bikes and what their advantages are-- the accessibility, the fun, the social aspect... all things I'm looking for. We had a long conversation. Trouble is, when you are talking about biking, you are talking about some serious dollars. So even though I'm totally hooked on the concept. I now have another dilemma, lack of funds. Any of you out there know how to gain funds for such an endeavor?

Interesting

Well here's the link to the article about the marathon coming to Savannah.

So I went to the Tybee Island Social Club tonight with my mom, aunt, cousin and some friends and I ran into this guy that my brother grew up with. They were very good friends-- crazy devils. It was totally bizarre to see him, especially so out of the blue and on Tybee of all places. It's a small world I suppose. Anyway, he's a runner, and through the magic of facebook, I suppose that he has been keeping up with my running. So he asked me what races I had done, and I told him, and then I told him that I have tendonitis and that it's killing me and I'm so frustrated. It turns out he's had it several times and it's extremely frustrating, but he said that I should swim. He said, "You should just swim. You know, I'm actually a better swimmer than I am a runner. And stretch well." It sort of dawned on me at this point. I've been looking for a game plan to help me with training while in recovery, and while I do love to swim and have swum since my injury, it has been difficult because swimming is so much less accessible than running.

I have felt such a strong connection to the octopus lately. Several funny coincidences involving octopi have happened in the past couple of weeks and I think they are interesting animals. I looked up the symbolism for octopi, and it turns out that they are riddled with all sorts of great stuff. So when Jason told me I just needed to swim, it was sort of a "duh" moment. Of course. And then the octopus is also a great example of being flexible and ready to change, so maybe that's what my inner octopus is guiding me to do. I have to get over the accessibility thing. Don't know how. But hopefully there will be some inspiration from my eight tentacled pal.

No plans

Well, "We plan, God laughs" seems to be the moral of the story. I have decided to give up the marathon this year. I wanted so badly to do it. I really did. But I have to take care of myself. I will continue to train when I get better. The Rock N' Roll Marathon is coming to Savannah NEXT November... which seems pretty serendipitous, but I might go west anyway for the hell of it. Plus, I'm going to hope that I can get my registration fee counted for next year instead of this year.

Aleen seems relieved, just because she has SOO much on her plate. I myself am mournful, but I also feel a little bit of relief. I don't want to further complicate things by being a horse's ass. And I have decided to go on a hiking trip in October, hopefully. The Smokies are gorgeous at that time. And I know I'll be able to use a a vacation.

Hope all is well with all you runners. Don't over do it. And don't wear heels if they hurt!