Shit Happens!

Shit happens!

I know that is not an appropriate title for an entry, but it is appropriate in this case. It has been over a year since I have posted anything since getting accepted to the London Marathon via the lottery. I was one of the few people in America who got accepted to the marathon via the lottery. I was so excited that I told everyone (big mistake) … and then I started training. I used the marathon as my reason to get back in shape.

I got a coach and started running/walking several times a week according to my training plan. I signed up for NYRR races to ramp up my training and secured a hotel in London. I was nervous but felt like I would be ready for the marathon. Everything was going as planned until I started to feel a pain in my left side. I thought it was nothing, but it became more intense after the NYRR Women's 10K. To make a long story short, I had a huge kidney stone. It required surgery and to have a stent put in place for 2 weeks. This meant I would only have 8 weeks left to train for the marathon. My doctor cleared me to run with it in, but she was crazy.

How can anyone run long distance with the severe urge to pee every five minutes? Yes, I ran on the treadmill in the gym with a bathroom, but I could never get into a groove because of all of the bathroom breaks. So, I deferred… and then recovered.

I started training again as soon as I could, because I only had about 6 months to train between the October 2022 marathon and the April 2023. I was pushing it, because I have been trying to get into this marathon for the past 4 years. I was training hard and completed the NYRR Staten Island half feeling good. Unfortunately, after the half, my knee started hurting.... but I ignored it. A few days later, I was on my way to an 8-hour ICG coach by color training, when I stepped down and severely tore my meniscus. This injury ended my running career and started my new journey as a cyclist.

For a long time, I thought that I was being punished for doing the Staten Island Half instead of going to a family function in Va. I became depressed and thought that my life as an athlete was over. However, it was just the opposite, my injury gave me an opportunity to join an entirely different tribe… of cyclists. Omg, in my next entry I will tell you how Lisa from Black Girls Do Bike: NYC convinced me that I was ready to ride up a mountain with 3,300 feet of elevation. How do you think it went? 🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔