Saturday Gruel

I did get my new socket on Friday; it is considerably lighter, mainly due to a thinner/different plastic being used. It fits my Ossur Iceross cushioned liner far better since it was cast with this liner in place. I have to admit to some minor disappointment in not getting any news of my running foot; in fact, I find myself not wanting to talk about it to mitigate building too much excitement for that milestone day. I know I will get one; it is a matter of time and timing. My CP, Larry Wiley, is working hard toward this end. I still don't know for sure which prosthetic foot it will be.

As a side story, in "Tales if the Otori" Jato found its way to its master, it could not be owned otherwise. I know I am slow now and it will take several months of hard work to begin to approach my old running self. So no, I can't say I am worthy now. The way to do is to be. And wait.

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Except for some coughing, I am feeling better today. I do have a bit of a sore throat at night, likely from the congestion drainage. No temperature. I should say I learned the hard way NOT to run with a fever, as I did one year at the Cooper River Bridge Run due to a beer bet with a coworker. I will not run with either a sore throat or fever, two of a few things that I put in the "not worth the gamble" category. I'd rather sit out a few days than to take a chance on a much longer setback and damage to my body.

I plan to start running again tomorrow, just 2 at first and "listen to the body" in the following days. Jennifer and I will be going to Conway on Friday for the races on Saturday. If needed, I will get a socket adjustment on Thursday; otherwise, I am ready. I am not prepared for this race like I would be in the past as the circumstances are vastly different. It is always difficult not to go out too fast in race, given the excitement and atmosphere of the day, but I hope I am not caught up the moment. My plan is to start at my same slow training pace, only increasing the pace at the end. I have an older Garmin 301 GPS/HR watch that should help throttle me back if needed.

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I want to thank my family, friends and other runners again for the voices of support over the past few months, two of whom commented on my last post. Joan D'Alonzo is a superb runner, winner of the Ocean Drive marathon in 2002. Joan is part of our old Compuserve Runner's World forum which went to Netscape, which for some insane reason disbanded some of the most popular messaging boards including ours (S9). We later moved to Yahoo Groups under "Runners-Triathletes" where we still hang out on occasional, although most activity is on Twitter and Facebook these days.

I've written about Rick Ball in a past post, a fellow BTK amputee who recently ran a 5k a shade over 18 minutes. Rick was named as an "Inspirational Ambassador" by Ray Zahab, the founder of Impossible2Possible, which can be found here. Rick has been helpful to me in ways only a fellow amputee could possibly understand and appreciate. In him I see where there is no disability; the thing that sets us apart leads to a greater understanding.

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Time for a delicious bowl of gruel. = :-) This is my oatmeal with sliced almonds, walnuts, blueberries, and NC honey breakfast of wannabe champions. I cook the steel-cut oats on the weekend for the following week to expedite breakfast prep. Since I've been/will be trying to get some 2x day runs, this means doing one before work and then one at lunch or in the evening. Time tends to be compressed on these days so wherever I can save a few minutes is helpful in reducing stress.

It's a beautiful day; morning temps are perfect for running and then warming into the 70s to make the rest of the day quite pleasant. I'll be out there running tomorrow making paradise complete. Wherever you are, find goodness in the moment. It is there.