Out of prison – on parole

Of course, I am already violating my parole conditions but oh well.

After 3 1/2 months of imprisonment, I am escaping and going to do the 100-hour (4 days and 4 hours) race at Jackalope Jam starting Wednesday!

There is no goal, It’s going to be an experimental event.

I will see how my foot responds during and after x number of miles. If I have to rest then, I will. I don’t know how long a rest that would be but that’s part of the experiment.

My primary goal is to see how doing more than a few miles at once and in a row will affect my foot.

Despite “recommendations” otherwise I did 4 walks in a row (4 days in a row) and although they were short miles (11, 6, 11, 7) they were a test to see how i responded. It wasn’t great but it wasn’t as bad as it has been.

I have to know where I am as far as training for HOTS and Vol State goes. Do I need to pull out of HOTS to be able to do Vol State? Or, will my foot be able to handle both? Inquiring minds want to know.

I have even more disappointment in the medical establishment after this experience, however. They don’t understand people who do ultras. sigh.

I have learned a lot and accomplished an amazing amount in the 3.5 months so i am grateful for that. I’m now on edit #3 of my new book (From Tipping Point to Turning Point). It’s definitely different than I thought it would be when I started but that’s half the fun.

I will post updates. It’s weird finally having something to write about again.

Nothing like going straight from the feet to the head…, Today I had a YAG capsulotomy (often there is a film that develops over a cataract repair and it can be split easily with a laser). Hopefully I will be able to read better and for longer (once the dilation goes away – lasting a lot more than 4 hours..lol – a day of rest – why not since I can’t go walking anyway).

Both, I hope!

Did you ever notice in sports that the athletes cross themselves and point to the sky when they hit a home run or score a goal or a touchdown?

You never see that when they’ve hit a single, caught (or thrown) a 5 yard pass, or kicked the ball down the field.

Why is that? Why don’t we celebrate the little things as well as the big ones?

What do you do every day that you just take for granted or don’t think is very important in the grand scheme of things?

I know I will never take another painless step without immense joy and gratitude. It’s made me think about all the other things that make up my day and how amazing they all are, especially when taken as a whole.

I’m writing this on a laptop. As I think back to the disaster manual I once created and typed on a typewriter, I thank the Universe for the blessing of technology. I cringe at the pain I felt hammering out each word (and correcting each error) on that old thing. How often have I just picked up my laptop and not even thought about it. But I never hesitate to complain when some program doesn’t work the way I think it should. I’m definitely going to change my focus about that.

To help you get a glimpse of some of these things, remember a time when the power went out and you were either at home or in a store. How many things don’t work? What can’t you do that you wanted to do – such as checking out of the store – no one knows how to do that when the computer is down anymore.

Make a habit of taking time to celebrate the little things as well as the big things!