Once a Runner...

Hi! How was your fourth? I certainly embraced this strange non-holiday smack in the middle of the week.

We hung out on the stoop…

 

People watched…

Popped into a couple pubs…

and grilled up some food…

It was a welcomed break from the normal weekly grind.

Funny story. Since I’ve been injured and have been frequenting the gym on a daily basis, I’ve noticed a consistent crew of us early birds around 5 AM. The past few weeks, I’ve noticed a girl on a nearby treadmill, and envied her intense interval/incline workouts.  However today, I noticed she was on the stair master instead. This morning while I was in the empty yoga room stretching after another elliptical workout, she came up to me and said:

Girl: “Hey, are you a runner?”

Me: “Yea… well I’m injured. You?”

Girl: “Yep. I thought you looked like a runner, I think I’m injured too…”

Which led into a 10 minute conversation about running injuries, cross training, fall races, etc. Her injury sounded like behind-the-knee tendonitis that will hopefully heal in a matter of weeks. But it was so nice to connect and commiserate with someone in the running community again – and to still be IN the “running community” for that matter! So – thank you, runner-girl at the gym, for making me feel part of that world again.

Am I being dramatic?

Don’t you love it when you meet someone and realize they’re also a runner, and you suddenly spin off into an endless conversation about all things running? And then you feel bad for everyone around you who is not a runner? Reminded me of this NYRR T-shirt:

Another funny story.  Yesterday I visited my new primary care doctor for the first time. During my physical, we discussed my medical history including my current sfx issue. While I was lying on the table later, she was listening to my heart and said, “Well, don’t worry, Katie. You still have the heart of a runner. Runner hearts are always kinda like… Hmmm… I don’t really need to work too hard right now… la dee da.” Ha!  I loved that. Also, after I explained my injury, she put her clip board down, looked at me and said, “Not running. Hmm. This must be really hard for you. How are you handling it - emotionally?” YES! Thank you! A doctor that understands us! I completely appreciated that she recognized the significance of running on more than just a physical level. So, thank you, new doctor! You’ve already exceeded my expectations!

9 weeks down… 3 more to go?

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Keep cool.

Life's not so bad.

10,000 Hours

My recent lack of running has provided me with more time to devote to yoga. As a result, I’m gonna go all Zen on you today. 

Have you ever read Malcolm Gladwell’s book, Outliers? If you haven’t, do it. In short, Malcolm Gladwell suggests different factors and theories that may contribute to a person’s success. One theory that has stayed with me is the “10,000-Hour Rule.” The basic idea is that if you practice anything for 10,000 hours, you will become an expert at it.  (This theory is according to this Florida State University study.) 

So there’s this guy, Dan, who has decided to test this theory. He quit his job, and is devoting 10,000 hours of deliberate practice to golf, with the hopes of becoming a professional golfer. (Check out details and ways to support The Dan Plan here.) Dan hopes to “inspire others to start exploring the possibilities life affords them.” I love that statement. You can have the life you want. 

I started pondering – what would I do? If I quit everything to devote 10,000 hours of practice for any skill I want – what would it be? The caveat here is that it has to be something you have minimal existing knowledge of. So, for example, I couldn’t pick “to become a professional runner” because I already know a thing or two about the sport.  

Last week I finally went in for an MRI of my pelvis. Wow – what a process. I had no idea it was such a “procedure”. Since the MRI was of my pelvis, I had to be all the way in the tube, strapped down, which was not so much fun for 45 minutes. I’m glad I didn’t know this beforehand; otherwise I probably wouldn’t have gone! But I’m obviously glad I did. Although I haven’t gotten my radiology results yet, they did send me home with a CD of images that I’ve been obsessing over for the past few days.

Seriously? How cool is this? No, I have no idea what we’re looking at here. But I have spent way too much time analyzing the symmetry, random black shadows, and strange formations in what may or may not be muscles, tendons, ligaments, or bones. I mean, how do they expect me to not self-diagnose when they send me home with a CD of images like these?!

Not my fault.

(And, yes, I blocked out my lady bits. This is the internet, afterall.)

Anyways! This obviously answers the 10,000-hour question for me. Without a doubt, I would study Kinesiology – the study of human movement.  or Musculoskeletal science. Seriously, learning the different components of the body and how they all work together totally fascinates me. Then, I could run all I want, injure myself, and analyze my own MRI results much more efficiently!

My runners-up include becoming a professional tennis player (they have killer legs) or learning the spanish guitar (that would be cool at parties).

This is such a great cocktail hour question – you learn so many random things about people. For example, Joe’s answer was to become a computer science expert or learn to play the classical piano. Huh?

Q: Okay, now it’s you’re turn!! If you could devote 10,000 hours to becoming at expert at anything NEW, what would it be?! Please share!

PS: Happy National Running Day!! Enjoy 30% off ALL ORDERS today only! Enter RUNNINGDAY2012 at checkout!