128 Days - And Then I Woke Up...

I only had a few miles left but my legs and my feet were on fire. It might as well have been 50 more.

"C'mon, Summer," Kellie said as she glanced at her watch. "If we can maintain 15 minute miles you can still make your goal. You're at about a 20 minute mile right now."

I was? In my mind, this was a good, solid 8 minute pace. Amazing what sleep deprivation would do to you. I laughed at the thought of going faster as I felt my legs shake beneath me. This had truly been the hardest thing I had ever done before in my life.

Although the pain was filtering out my ability to tell time at all, somehow the next few miles went quickly. I heeded Kellie's words and was barely at a 15 minute a mile pace. We were about to hit the pavement, for the last mile or so of the race when suddenly, I saw something, not too far away. Was that Brian Mackenzie? I thought he had finished long ago. My pace quickened. What was I doing? But this was probably the only chance I'd have to do something like this.

I saw nothing but the finish line in the distance as I barrelled through. My vision blurred as I went from a 15 minute down to a 9 minute mile. I didn't even notice that I had passed him. Kellie stayed by my side, picking up the pace with me and cheering. She had to be tired too. Carl was standing at the finish line along with Coach LeClair, Vanessa and several others from the Academy. I turned around. Had I really just beat Brian across the finish line of the AC 100??

And then I woke up... I smiled. Brian is an incredibly strong runner, and unless he breaks both his legs, the idea of that happening is just ridiculous. But it showed me that even though my body isn't quite there yet, my head is officially back in the game.

I was right about the Chest Wall Syndrome... and since getting the proper medication I feel almost 100% better. If I do not completely let it heal, it can become chronic. I am dying to start training again but I am giving it one more week, planning my big comeback at the Mt. Wilson Trail Race next weekend. Although I will not be able to run that at the speed I had originally anticipated, I will appreciate that day that much more. I will go for two days at The Academy the following week and then it is off to San Diego to pace my friend Donn in the SD 100. Then my focus will be entirely on CrossFit and CrossFit Endurance as I get ready to take on The Angeles Crest 100 mile run.

Carl said something to me a few weeks ago, before my diagnosis, that really stuck with me. We all have different realities. His reality was that his Helen time was about a minute slower than where he wanted it to be. My reality at that time was that I could not walk around the block without getting out of breath and didn't know why. For those even less fortunate, their reality is how they are going to relearn how to walk after losing a limb. Sometimes things happen to us to make us realize how fortunate we are. I am going to appreciate the road to Wrightwood even more with my awarness to what could have been behind me now.