New Beginnings

This is certainly the time of year for new beginnings and I intend to have a few myself.

I have been in a funk. A deep, deep funk. I'm not sure that anything is really wrong with me, but I sure as hell have not been myself. I've had a very full past three years...mostly more good than bad, but still...very full. I got married and changed jobs in 2007, only to change jobs again in February of 2008. In fact, I started my new job the same day that my very first running program began, thus 2008 is now known as The Year of the Marathon. I ran the Denver Marathon only 9 months after that first, scary running group meeting. Since then I've fallen into injury after injury...knees, hamstrings, hips, then my foot. I pushed through plantar fasciitis so I could run the NYC Maraton in November 2009. Really, come on. You don't get into NYC on your first try and then NOT run it. I think that was the beginning of the end. I just didn't enjoy running anymore. It felt like a chore to just put my shoes on every time, and a lot of times, I'd get dressed only to end up sitting on the couch and feeling like a failure. When I signed up for Chicago in early 2010, I felt like it was something I needed to do. I'd run a marathon each year for the past two. What kind of a loser would just stop?

Well. Me.

Yes, there were other issues (like my foot being ready to fall off) but at the very base of it, I just didn't feel like it. I've run off and on since July, but nothing serious. Everytime I'd start to miss it, my foot would act up and I'd lay off for a while more. I think I've had enough...and I use "think" because while I've definitely had it up to here with this pain, I'm still not sure what I'm going to do once it's all fixed. But, regardless of where the future takes me, I've decided that getting this issue fixed is my top priority right now, so on January 21, my podiatrist will perform plantar fasciitis surgery on my right foot.

I'm excited to have something that is more likely to work (trust me, I've done it all), but at the same time, this is kind of a big, scary step and I'm hopeful that I'm one of the many that don't have any issues going forward.

So, I guess all I can do at this point is sit back and see where things go from here.