Happy Friday the 13^th…hope you have a Fabulous, Fabulous Friday!
 

I went to my first Active Release Therapy (ART) on Wednesday.  For those of you who are not familiar with ART, ART is a patented, state of the art soft tissue system/movement based massage technique that treats problems with muscles, tendons, ligaments, fascia and nerves. Headaches, back pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, shin splints, shoulder pain, sciatica, plantar fasciitis, knee problems, and tennis elbow are just a few of the many conditions that can be resolved quickly and permanently with ART.  (I got that statement off of their website, and you can visit it at http://www.activerelease.com/.)
 

It really worked!  For the first time in over a week, I had no pain and I told Dr. Brian Flournoy, my ART practitioner/physician/therapist (I don’t really know his ”title”), that for the first time in over a week, I felt like I could RUN!  Unlike the expected response, he instructed me to!!  WOW!
 

So, on my way to the car, I tested it out.  Sure enough, I was able to run – to my car – pain free!  (Oh, it’s the little things in life!)  However, by the time I made it home, it had tightened back up and I decided to get on the TPQuadballer (before my first “real” trial run). 
 

That loosened it back up, but by the time I was ready to run, Mother Nature delivered 25+ mph winds and a severe thunderstorm!
 

Fast forward to yesterday…
 

I took my TPQuadballer to school, and used it off and on throughout the day – my students were enamored by the site of it, and many just had to get on the floor and “try it”!  It was quite hilarious!  Anyway, after school, I geared up for my first run in over 9 days.  My goal was to run 5K or a little over 3 miles – easy. 
 

Starting out, I was surprised at my initial feeling of not missing a beat!  My “belly” breathing was good, turnover was normal (96 steps a minute), and my perceived effort was surprisingly right on!  This lasted for about the first half mile, when I seriously thought to myself, “I should turn back”.  I was noticing a decreased range of motion or “tug” in my left hamstring, followed by a dull ache that started to appear below my knee in the outer part of my left calf.  Once again, my ego and stubborn pride refused to stop at just 1 mile!  Man!  How humiliating, to not even be able to run 3 miles!  I ran on…
 

I was approaching a few runners on the trail that stopped to walk right before I reached them.  As I passed, I told them, “great job!”  They laughed, almost as if to respond, “yeah right!”  I looked at them as I passed and said, “No, really…GREAT job!”
 

It made me wonder what was going through their minds…they did not know me, and seemingly couldn’t accept someone running “past them” with a compliment as they were shutting their run down to walk. 
 

Which led me to the next point I pondered…why do you stop running or why do you keep running?
 

Yesterday, though my body was telling me I should’ve turned around at the ½ mile marker, I had a goal.  I would keep running to attain my goal of running 3 miles, and I was determined to get to the 1½ mile marker so my goal could be realized and logged. However, the dull ache had turned into a stabbing pain, and it was all I could do to get to the 1 ½ mile marker…leading to the reason I would stop running.   
 

I was faced with the reality, my ego would take a backseat to my body – it had done all it could do.  So, I began my walk back home. 
 

The two runners from earlier passed me – they were running.  I again tried to run – three steps, and I was back walking.  I walked on. 
 

Then, a larger, male runner passed me.  Again, I just had to try again.  Nope.  I walked on.
 

I then just started soaking in the beauty of the day, and really observing everything around me – the squirrels, the geese, the ducks, the rabbit, the beautiful sky, the spirit of spring, and the other runners and walkers. 
 

Once again, I pondered what makes a person stop running or what is the motivation to keep plodding along? 
 

I witnessed three different runners simply stop – between markers!  What was their goal?  They hadn’t reached the next ½ mile marker, they just stopped!  Were they injured, too?  Had they reached their goal between the markers?!  Was the discomfort they were experiencing too much?  Had they taken more running steps than before?  Regardless, I was glad to see others out exercising.
 

Keep running.
lisa