Things that come out of nowhere...

While en route to the Haney to Harrison Relay last Friday, I was in a car accident. The first in 20 years, to be exact. When you respond to someone else's accidents for a living, it's easy to disassociate yourself from what's gone on; you assess the situation, determine safety and begin doing what is necessary to help. When you're actually "in" an accident it's a whole other story. I felt as though I was a bit on "auto-pilot", but was able to call the guys at work (as well as RCMP and BCAS) for help. It was such a relief to see them arrive.
I was OK, though had some low back pain, of which I got looked at that evening by a Doctor. I was told to take some time off work and go for some physiotherapy. As the dust settled, or even in amidst the dust, I was scared to acknowledge that training, work and life as I knew it could possibly be compromised. In reality, I got off extremely fortunately...for this, I am ETERNALLY grateful. What "could have been" was an unsettling prospect, and, sadly, possibly a reality for one of the persons involved.
So, here I was...time "off" work/play, and a bit worse for wear. I have a great physio and chiropractor who have got me back to functional again. It's a slow process, they tell me, but are very encouraging in resuming "normal" daily activities...yahoo! I am grateful for being fit and strong, but it's funny how everything can change in the blink of an eye.
I'm happy to say that it's been nice having time off...time spent with friends and family, eating good food and yes, even drinking some wine (...insert "gasp" here...)! But...with Doctor's note firmly in hand, I went back to work 6 days post accident and am feeling good. I spun with the girls this past Friday and it felt great. I had a little swim tonight, which also felt great...it's good to be back.
Oh, and for the record...ALWAYS wear seat belts...they save lives!

A run through the park...

After Grand Coulee, I felt I needed to focus on the area of my race that needed the most work; the RUN. Ugg! This was a bitter-sweet task, in that, I've always liked to run, but have never had any formal training and knew that this was going to be quite a challenge. I mean, come on, how hard is running? Well, as I am beginning to see, it's a hell of a lot of work, but something that's coming together quite nicely.
If I had to describe my running style I'd say I was a "plodder"... a function of too many years playing basketball, I guess. Running was always something you did to get to the other side of the court...I never really thought about how I accomplished it. And I was never told "how" to do it faster or better. So, after many years of staying within my comfort zone I decide to show up to a track workout and set foot outside the "zone" and see what changes could occur. I joined up with Andrew, Ginny and the BPR crew to see what I could learn. I'll admit, I was a bit daunted to be running with such accomplished athletes, but what I was shown has open my eyes to what I think is the start of a new love affair with running.
Andrew and Ginny set to task in providing a few very useful suggestions that have resulted in a more efficient stride, a greater sense of body awareness and speed! Holy crap...these legs are pretty speedy!
This past Sunday was the Rats X-Country Run in Kal Park. I did it last year and I think my time was just over an hour...1:03 and change, I think. This year, after a bit of training and some serious determination on my part, I finished in 53:28 and left it all out there on the trails. Man, did that feel good!
I can sense a new confidence growing with running. I have a good base built over this past year and am now combining it with some functional awareness that I can feel working. I look forward to more improvements, big and small, that can enable me to complete the run at IMC with grace and confidence.
For now, I'm pretty happy with Sunday's run and relishing in bettering my time from last year...