And she finally came out of the woods

Last year mid-summer my foot started going downhill rather rapidly.It had been bothering me for a while, but I could still run 10 miles before it caved.  Then we got down to 6 - after which I was limping.  By the end of summer I was down to 3 miles, and in agony. But I didn't want to stop running, and I also had the Las Vegas RnR half looming in November.  Taping, cupping, massaging and all kinds of other techniques meant that I could continue running, but I knew that something was very wrong, as I couldn't walk now without limping.  Anyway, long story short, it's all sorted now.  It was a long, hard path back and my feet are now treated like the national treasures that they are.

The foot wasn't quite ready for the Golden Gate Relay April 30-May 1, and I told the team I would sit this one out.  But my team (same one as last year), offered to run my legs, as long as I stayed with the team.  What a terrific lot of people! The race was awesome, I ran my first and third leg, and a couple of miles of my second before my foot gave up.  My friend Claire ran the rest of leg 2!

                                                                                                                                                                     It was such a terrific weekend! Running, companion running, team running, talking about running, re-bonding with old friends, deepening our friendships and making new friends with the runners in team 2.  It's impossible to describe that weekend, and the wonderful time we had, but here is a little video which captures some of it.

I had a great time with my friends. And when I got back, I had to get my foot sorted out.  I'll skip over that because it deserves a separate post, under Lessons Learned.But that weekend, running with my friends, laughing, being together, having fun - it restored my soul.  It made me realise that just because I am injured, it does not mean isolating oneself from other runners.  It is true, that's it's hard not being able to run, yet to be amongst runners, talking about running. But to be isolated is even worse - because it decentres you, and it's so much harder to come back. But the foot is healing, I am running again, and slowly improving my fitness.  My path out of the woods began with the Golden Gate Relay.  We ran 194 miles from Saratoga to Santa Cruz, and raised more than $6,000 dollars for organ donation.Go Van 1!