Team Rehab

What was Bruce Willis’ line from that corrupt bookies movie? “There was a time.” Hell yeah there was Bruce. There was a time indeed.

There was a time when running less than five miles didn’t seem like it was even worth getting kitted up for. Oh, how the mighty have fallen! One year ago today my fitness world faltered. After a nasty crossfit injury, I’ve spent most of the last year unable to participate in many of my favorite activities. And even some of my less favorite, like walking up the three flights of steps to my door.

To say this last year has been hard is an obvious understatement. However, if I’ve learned anything it’s that sport has its seasons. There are times when the sun is shining and it all lines up so perfectly, and seasons of dark where it all goes horribly, horribly wrong.  Like good workouts and bad, I try to take injury in stride. That sounds very zen of me now, which is to say that I try. Of course that’s not to say that adult-sized this-isn’t-what-I-want-it-to-be tantrums haven’t been thrown. I’m just trying to see more balance.

Despite the struggles of the last year, the winter of this injury seems to be fading. For the first time in a year, I’ve started to run a little. I have been able to bear enough weight on my knee to walk/run/walk to the end of the street and back. The first night I was grinning like I’d won an Olympic medal. Maybe that’s the whole point of injuries. To give us the opportunity to stop taking our accomplishments for granted, to remember to appreciate every single stride.

Team Rehab marches on.

I ran?

Tonight, after being out of commission since an unfortunate CrossFit incident 197 days ago (not that I’m counting), I went on a blind date with Running. My physical therapist said running was just my type with a great personality. As I walked through the gym doors, I was nervous, like heart racing, butterflies in the stomach, nervous. I wasn’t sure if Running was going to be awesome and hot or awkward and painful. It turns out Running was all of those things.

It’s been a long year, a year that isn’t even over. A year in which I still have a lot of work left to get back to “normal”. In April, after having the best running race to date, it all came crashing down at my first CrossFit session. I’m sure there are places where CrossFit is awesome, this wasn’t one of those places. Telling new people to squat deeper and go faster, while you have your back turned to them and their form, is negligent. That’s all I’m going to say about that.

I did 10 minutes on the treadmill tonight, alternating walking and slow running every 100 meters. It felt good and it hurt. I tried to listen to the pain since my body is in a precarious position now and I have to make sure I don’t push too hard too fast. This is a challenge for me. Even though I may have never stood on a podium, I am still an athlete. As endurance athletes we are taught to ignore pain, we bottle it up, we push it down, we let it wash over us. But we don’t listen to it, we don’t give in. But tonight I realized, I have to embrace it. This time, I have to listen.

And so, as my father would say, I mush on.

The race is over, but journey is just beginning.

The race is over. How was it? It was unbelievable. After almost 4 months of training I had a perfect race. I woke up very early on the morning of Sunday March 17th and I felt electric. I knew right then it was going to be a good day. The weather was perfect and I managed to time hydration and fueling just right. After over 13 miles of racing through downtown Sacramento, my training partner and I, ran into Raley Field, and with our picture up on the Jumbotron we crossed the finished line. The last few miles were hard, it hurt and in answer to the misery of our bodies we just ran faster. When we crossed the finish line, my tank was empty. Just like I wanted. I left it all out there on the road. We shaved 5 whole minutes off of our goal. As our friends and families predicted, we killed it!

 Ok, not quite Olympic golds.

For me this day was more than a race. It was finishing outstanding business from 2009, it was running to raise money for the PKD Foundation, and it was above all to prove to myself that I’m healthy and strong. To prove that I am not my disease.

Again thank you to @the_jenny who logged almost 300 miles with me. Who was patient and kind even though we often went weeks on end of seeing each other 7 days a week. Thank you to our husbands who supported us on race day and through all our training. I extend my deepest gratitude to those who contributed to my campaign to #EndPKD. The generosity of my friends and family raised $1,120 in the fight against Polycystic Kidney Disease.

Team #allthemiles on the home stretch of Raley Field.

Thank you all.

@EKurze

Yeah, sorry I haven't called...

Yeah, so I've been a terrible blogger as of late. However, the good news is it's been because I've been so busy running. I've logged over 300 miles in the last few months and it's been amazing. Since I was injured 7 days before my last half marathon in 2009 it has been a long road back to running. Once again I've gotten my legs back. That (mostly) effortless feeling where I don't even noticed that my legs are moving, let alone carrying me over miles and miles. It's absolutely AMAZING! I still can't quite put it into words.

Training for the Shamrock'n Half Marathon in Sacramento has been a fantastic experience. I've logged almost all my miles with @the_jenny, who is an absolutely remarkable lady. She is funny, kind, patient, and resilient. I'm so lucky to have has her as a friend and training partner. I can't wait to kick out an awesome and very green 13.1 miles tomorrow. We made it through the cold of winter, rain, a little heat, days when we didn't feel like running but went anyways, and some long days on the road. We even made it through almost eating ourselves out of house and home. It may have been said our appetites resembled those of teenage boys. I questioned if we were actually training to run, or instead, cross-training to eat competitively. A special thanks also must go out to @Naked_Bob and @CitizenSilva for putting up with us sweaty, ravenous ladies.

@the_jenny and myself @Ekurze

While training for this race I decided to turn it into my own personal Run for PKD (Polycystic Kidney Disease), a cause very near and dear to my heart, or more specifically my kidneys. Due to the generosity of my friends and family I've raised over $1,120 for the PKD Foundation. What a way to celebrate National Kidney Month. I can't thank them enough for their support and generosity.

So tomorrow is race day. Alarm clock goes off at 5:30 a.m. Boo. Our wave starts at Raley Field at 8 a.m. Woo! Today I've had the house to myself and I've been trying to keep busy with laying out all my gear, resting, eating, hydrating and running errands. Why do I need to keep busy? Because otherwise I sort of neurotically over-analyze how my legs and body feel. Do they feel tired? Is my gait even? Yeah, all that. Not untypical for me. I used to do the mental run-through before roller derby bouts too. I settled down eventually.

Now it's almost time for me to turn in. Tomorrow is a big day.

Goodnight!

#ShamrocknWhiskey

Ups and Downs

So while I was running yesterday I started composing this post in my head. I was going to tell you about how awesome my running is going. How I'm getting faster and picking up extra miles is a piece of cake. I'm running over 20 miles a week and so far my body is taking it in stride. No pun intended.

On Christmas Eve a ran from my parents house in the country to the coffee shop downtown. It was only 6.5 miles but it was the prettiest day and it was one of those electrifying runs. Fortunately I was smart enough at the time to stop and appreciate how good things were going. I spent Christmas day in the car and the following Wednesday I was super tired, oddly so. So I decided to take it easy and take an extra rest day. Then yesterday the sun was shining and I kicked out 4 quick miles. Nothing spectacular but not a suffer-fest either. Then today, I woke up with a some sort of cold and feeling like I'd been hit by a freight train. AGHHHGHH!

So frustrating but that's the way it goes. Ups and downs. Good days and bad days happen to all of us. I guess if we didn't have the bad days the good ones wouldn't be quite so special.

I'm drinking tea, resting and trying to mend as fast as possible. At this exact moment in time I'm not stressing about the miles I'll miss tomorrow. I can't promise that I won't feel differently tomorrow, or heck, even five minutes from now.

So until I run again, please pass the chicken noodle soup.

Thank you so much to those who have already donated to my Run to End PKD page. See this post if you'd like to know more.

And so it begins...AGAIN!

OK for those of you that are new and want some context to why I run check out this post. I had such good intentions of running CIM this last December in Sacramento (as much fun as that apocalyptic rain looked). What I've come to learn is that I had drastically underestimated how much time I would spend not running in 2012, and instead getting settled into my new life in Sacramento/Rocklin after living in San Luis Obispo for 20 of my 30 years. I've moved 3 times in 18 months, and it turns out that it takes some time to get settled and adjust. Finally after almost a year in Sac I feel like I have a new normal. So the time has come to get the cause back on track.

I am once again Running for PKD or rather to end it. After a fantastically fun and successful 10k Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving I figured the time was right to really resume training. So I'm all signed up for Shamrock'n Half Marathon (a 13.1 mile race) on March 17th, 2013. I'm currently running around 20 miles a week with 13 weeks to go. Things look good and I finally feel my running form is returning.

I apologize in advance for the countless blog posts, tweets (follow me at @EKurze, or #ShamrockinWhiskey) and FaceBook updates regarding this half marathon and my fundraising efforts.

I invite you to donate to my Run to End PKD fundraising effort. Thank you in advance for your support.

 Roseville Turkey Trot 10K Crew

So how's it going you ask?

Umm, well it's kinda not. That's how it's going. I've only spent about one weekend at home a month since I moved to Sacramento in February. I've made several treks "back home" (not because it's where I live but it's the place that I referred to as home for 25 years, and that, it turns out is a hard habit to break) and work has already taken me to some really cool places. All the distractions of travel and a full plate at work and the fact that the early summer heat is melting me has added up to a whole lot of not running.

It may sound like I'm making a bunch of excuses. Well...I guess I am. But the first step is admitting you have a problem right? Well I admit it, I have a problem. But dear readers, I'm coming clean. I'm admitting my sins and promising to make them right.

So tomorrow is another day and I have renewed hope that it will be different.

Time to get this train back on track...