Embrace the Unexpected

After running a marathon, I turned my focus towards graduating school and starting a new business which meant I didn’t have any big running goals lined up. So, in the meantime I decided to join an online running challenge with a new running team. I wasn’t sure what to expect but figured it would be fun after speaking with a few people who were already involved in it. Why not embrace the running community and meet more like-minded people?

The Pace Cadets from the Runner Runner Challenge Team.

Since I had built up all this endurance and weekly mileage during marathon training, I didn’t want that effort to disappear. While I dialed into a more focused approach with strength training, I decided to keep a higher weekly mileage log than prior to my marathon prep. While my running wasn't nearly as intense as it was during marathon training I kept my physical stamina top of mind knowing I had joined this running challenge and I could pick up training with more ease when I did decide to jump back into a big running goal.

To kick things off with my new running team I signed up for 2 races in the same week. A 15K on a holiday Monday and a 5K the following Saturday. I was excited and ready for both of these races. What I didn’t plan for or expect was becoming sick for the first time in 5 years right before both races. In the beginning my symptoms were mild, so I held out hope I could still race. But as each day unfolded I slowly became worse off until the eve of the 15k race I landed myself at the local Urgent Care seeking relief from this virus that ultimately took me down. It wasn't until the nurse tapped the excess fluid out of her needle with her fingers and then proceeded to jab a steroid shot right in my booty that I quickly realized this race tomorrow wasn’t going to happen.

As I arrived home and crawled back into bed I was frustrated and felt like I was letting my team down by canceling at the last minute the night before the race. But I couldn’t help the fact I was sick or change it, so I accepted my fate and focused on resting and healing my body. If you’re an active person you may understand how hard this can be when you’re used to training regularly and being on the go.

This is where listening to what your body needs is very important. After having knee surgery in 2021 I realized the significance of being in tune with yourself since I hadn’t listened to my body at that time. Back then I pushed through the pain and ultimately ended up requiring surgery. Ever since then, I have taken extra care to listen to what my body is telling me. Dialing into our intuition is a skill most of us overlook. When we are self-aware enough to acknowledge those little signs, gut feelings, and the small whispers our intuition speaks to us, it can lead to massive insights and realizations. This was something I became even more aware of during marathon training as I didn’t want to injure myself while training.

So, back to what I had now entered as my second week of being sick. I didn’t weight train, I fueled my body with fresh, cold-pressed juices and nutrient-dense food. I embraced this slower pace that I rarely experience. I caught up on some Netflix binge-watching as prior to being sick working full-time, building a business, managing new clients and being in school didn’t leave much free time for any kind of tv or movie watching. I also didn’t look at my Strava app knowing all my running pals were out there logging miles and workouts I was unable to participate in.

Daily cold-pressed juices provided many nutrients to help my body fight this virus.

 Slowly, day by day I felt better. I eased into some lighter workouts and tested some slow treadmill runs. I decided I felt good enough to run the 5K that upcoming Saturday. I knew it wouldn’t be my fastest or best run because I hadn’t trained and I wasn’t prepared. But what I did do was just show up and sometimes that’s all you have to do. I left my headphones at home because I wanted to ensure I was listening to my body as closely as possible and was prepared to slow down or walk if needed. I released any expectation of a set goal time and just enjoyed the atmosphere of the race, not to mention it came with a pair tickets to the baseball game later that afternoon.  

You know what happened? I had one of the best race day experiences. This race ended up being way bigger than I expected. I found myself in corral E at the end, but I was okay with that. Not being so lasered focused on hitting a specific time, I was able to enjoy the people around the start line. I met the friends who stood next to me that had driven from Mobile, Alabama to celebrate a birthday with the race in the morning and the game that evening. I laughed with the woman to my right about how we were herded like cattle around the baseball stadium. I wasn’t bothered by the massive bottleneck at the start line or all the crowd weaving I maneuvered throughout the entire 3.1 miles.

Crossing the finish line at Truist Park on the field.

I ran in a new location in my hometown of Atlanta, GA and even crossed the finish line running through the stadium down on the Atlanta Braves' baseball field. The very same baseball team that I watched where my husband worked when we first met over 24 years ago. I also encountered some of my new running team members in-person after only knowing them online and for a race I hadn’t even known about until one of them told me about. It quite frankly ended up being such a fun and unique way to spend a Saturday morning. You know what else happened? I ended up running better than I expected to, coming in 4th in my age group out of close to 3,500 people. I made it home and later that day came back with my husband to watch the Atlanta Braves take home a win over the Boston Red Sox on a most perfect summer afternoon.

With 2 of my team members from the Runner Runner Challenge.

In this process I realized that sometimes it’s okay to just show up and do your best with what you have at that moment. Occasionally when you slow down, adjust your goals, and accept a Plan B you just mind find a new and better experience by opening your mind to a different result. Life will always throw us unexpected curveballs and it’s how we handle those unforeseen situations that matter, perhaps even more than the ones prepare for and win. So, the next time the unexpected arrives at your doorstep, try not to resist what it’s offering. No matter how much you don’t want or like it try to lean into it and see if there is something positive you can extract from whatever lesson your body, the situation and your intuition just might be telling you.