The Long Haul

So, anyone who has any interaction with me, whatsoever, knows that I am an avid runner.  I have run all of my life.  I have a vivid recollection of my sister and I climbing up the hills in the wheat fields behind our house and running along the little patterns that the farm equipment had left preparing the field for seeding. Judy didn't enjoy running as much so she would usually stop and find dirt clods and try to hit me, but I would just run and run.  I loved it.  


I was fairly fast in small spurts too and would brag to my 2 older siblings, they'd get mad and tell our dad that I was bragging about beating them.  He thought he'd teach me a "Tortoise and the Hare" type lesson so he told them to challenge me to a race to the end of the pasture and back.  That would be about a mile and a half, give or take.  I eagerly agreed and took off like a shot.  They took a more educated approach and jogged along knowing that I'd die.  I was probably 8 and they were 10 and 11.  I crushed them.  I believe that on that day my dad decided I should run. 


 I played basketball, volleyball and softball instead.  Finally, in my junior year Dad managed to convinced me to go out for the track team.  I loved it, I made it to State, the following year I was 2nd and 4th in the 2 Mile and the Mile.  I went to college and ran and found a new love of Cross Country, which my small school never had.  I met my runner husband, my life changed because of running. 


Life went on and there was always running, it morphed from the competitive collegiate running into other racing, but somewhere along the way, I just realized that running is part of what God designed me to be.  I love it, it makes me... me.  I have heard all the funny jokes from "non runners", they're very clever.  I don't condemn, I run because I was made to enjoy it.  I have run 2 marathons, they each deserve their own blog entry, so I won't bore you with the details.  I LOVE Hood to Coast and have run many other "fun runs", but I must say that my favorite running memories are just me and the pavement, bark dust or gravel trail.  I pray while I run.  I solve lots of world problems and Dudley problems while I run.  I cry, sometimes, while I run.  There was a time in 2008 when I refused to run because my friend John Stumbo was so ill that he couldn't, so I wouldn't.  Then, when I resumed, I realized that I could cry and pray and run.  Multi faceted.  


So, this boring blog running story must have a point.  I am injured. DUMB!   I had been blissfully injury free for my entire career until... I got old!  In '09 I hurt my Plantar Fascia and long story short, my buddy/PT Josiah Faville fixed me up.  It was a process, but I was back in action. 


 Then a few months ago I hurt my hamstring.  I've been in PT again with the awesome PT Josiah since a while, I've lost track.  We were making progress, I was a puzzle which Josiah tried to piece together, apparently my SI joint was/is out of whack which made the hammy vulnerable.  Anywho... skip the boring PT stuff/torture (sorry Josiah) and fast forward to me attempting my 3rd "return to run" fiasco.  I basically am failing miserably at it and the hamstring is yelling at me about it and I FB message Josiah sniveling as always.  Bless his little heart, he emails me this long email today about the history of my injury (data backed studies) he dummies it down for me to understand that basically, the extent of what I've done to my hamstring over years of abuse and other circumstances means that I'm not running for a few (couple?, wishful thinking) months.  (Sigh, gulp, nope, not gonna cry).


Now, the title of this blog is "The Long Haul".  I've trained for many events in my years of running.  The marathon training is the long haul type of stuff.  I get it, I need to put in the hours of doing the exercises to strengthen this and that and get my hammy back to healthy. I need to undergo the lovely scraping and other things Josiah does to my leg to get it healthy. (no complaining allowed, he is ruthless)  


I have no doubt I'll run again, but in the meanwhile I am figuring this out.  God always provides me with a gentle or sometimes a plain old smack in the side of the head lesson.  This week it was in the form of my dear friend Don Bubna leaving this earth and entering Heaven.  What a party there must be.  My job at church is planning services and I am in the midst of doing that for Don and his family.  I love to think about the "Long Haul" that Don had here on this earth.  He encountered many bumps bigger than an injured hamstring.  He ran the race quite well and he is reaping the rewards right now.  


Pastor Don Bubna, thank you for teaching me so much about how to serve families during their times of grief.  You taught me so much and you always made me feel like a million bucks.  Love you friend. 


I am signing off, I will limp to bed, try not to cuss my failing leg and the pain it brings me... deep sigh... yeah, the long haul, I can do it and some day this blog entry will make me scoff at my whiny self. 


Dudster

HTC... PS

I have fully recovered from this year's Hood to Coast extravaganza. I blogged about it, I got my sleep in, I cleaned up the "bag of goodies". I feel like it's done. I have been, however, processing what next year may look like. I have been asked by the namesake of our team to retire the name. He made a good point.
We started the first year with "He's alive". John had barely survived his horrible encounter with the mystery illness and was slowly recovering when we embarked on Stumbo's Prayer Warriors, year one. He was there in the flesh to see us off that year. Very weak still and his voice was not so strong, but he showed up to send us off, such a blessing to us.

The next year was marked with a slight change in roster and a new shirt design that had "Run John Run" logos all over the place. I remember very well when I gave John the shirt that was made for him with that on it. I held my breath, worried that it would make him sad, but he loved it! He was doing way better health wise that year. He showed up to send us off again.

This year, he is doing even better with his health, he was not in Salem, but up in Gig Harbor, but still in touch with us. He actually called us prior to my van leaving the church to tell us a story as a send off. He had been at his new PT place and had worn his "Run John Run" shirt. The lady there asked him about it and he was able to share his story of near death and healing with her. Very cool to hear that our silly shirt is sparking conversations about much bigger things.

John Stumbo, you are a miracle. I count you as a friend and am so happy to have captained a team named for you. I will honor your wishes and retire the name. I am also retiring the team, at least with me as captain. I have thought about it a bunch and decided that my captainship is done. I pray daily that you will run again, I feel in my heart that you will. My recent injury has given me pause for much thought on this. I do love a good event like Hood to Coast, but I really just love running. My best runs are rarely from an event, but more often from a run where nobody is there. I miss those runs as I suspect you do St. Umbo. There will be a day in the future when you are running again and I will get another HTC team and you will be my number one recruit. I have my other "dream team" people in mind too, but alas, for now... I am retired.

Dudster (retired captain) has left the course.