Thursday, April 2, 2009

Finally I know what I have been knowing

Well......I am just back from the Sports Medicine doc. As I feared, I do have a stress fracture in my left tibia. But there is good news to this. I am in an air cast instead of a boot and only for 3-4 weeks. My bad news is no Mini Marathon. I am really disappointed but know that there are far worse things out there. I will heal and be back running in as few as three weeks! In the meantime, I have to brush up on my swimming strokes as that and cycling are about the only aerobic things I can do. But I can do them and will. It's a relief to me just to finally know what's going on.

In the keeping it real category, I just happen to be reading a book that is keeping me grounded instead of singing the woes. As I state in my blog bio I am originally from South Louisiana, a little town 45 miles southwest of New Orleans called Houma. Close enough to New Orleans that growing up, I could put the car on auto pilot and get there in ......well fast. I with the rest of the nation watched in horror as the flooding and aftermath of Hurrican Katrina unfolded. I cried for days because the places that they showed (the Gulf coast as well because I had family in Gulfport, Mississippi) were so familiar to me. I know that it is hard for people who aren't don't know the South Louisiana people found it hard to understand why these people didn't just leave, but I understood. I knew it was a terrible mistake, but people from that area just don't leave when a storm is brewing. Home is all they have in most cases. They just can't bear to leave it to fate. I am reading a book called "The Good Pirates of the Forgotten Bayous" that tells the story of a group of shrimpers that road out the storm in a place called Violet Canal which is south and east of New Orleans. They went through the worst of the storm, including too many tornadoes to count and storm surges of 20 to 25 feet from more than one direction on their shrimp boats and lived to tell about it. They were heroic in their rescue of stranded folks and were courageous in their attempts to keep life going because they were forgotten......for days. The author happens to be an acquaintance of mine from my home town that now writes for The Wall Street Journal which has made it even more special.

My point to all of this is that reading this couldn't have come at a better time for me. To read about these people's resilience in the face of a terrible tragedy and seemingly insurmountable obstacles, it serves as a reminder that life throws you big curveballs and little curveballs. This is a little curveball that will be better in a blink.
Thanks for reading. Hope all of you are healthy and doing well.

4 comments:

  1. Ginger,
    Well, I just finished sending you an e-mail, and then I read you blog entry.

    One thing I really love about you is how, without being unrealistic, look at the positive side of things. For example: you can swim with this injury! And you can cycle! So my immediate thought is: no mini, but how about beggining to train for a triathalon???? Have you ever done one? The Eagle Creek ones are a lot of fun and you would find a great challenge in them.

    Just wonderin'......

    Lots of love and respect that you have such a good take on this...we can all learn from it.

    -Rob

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love that you are from Louisiana. I had an aunt that lived in Mobile, Alabama, and I visited her a couple of times as a child. I've also been to New Orleans a couple of times and would dearly love to go back. There's something special and unusual about that part of the country and I love it. Plus, the food! OMG, the food.

    I am sorry to hear that you can't run the Mini. What a disappointment. But it will happen again, and you are facing the situation bravely and with Zen. Swim on!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ginger:
    Thanks for your thoughts, and YOUR resilience! Let me know when you need some neighborly energy! My cell is 753-4392.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ginger,

    Yes SWIM! Swimming is my first sport, and I am looking very forward to doing laps this summer! I had to forego my normal swimming routine last summer because I was doing the Project. Don't get me wrong, the Project brought me back to running which was a sport I had added to my reportoire of physical work outs. But I LOVE to swim.

    As for this darn mini marathon... there will be two more half marathons conducted this Fall here in Indy and my bet is they will be far more scenic and enjoyable that the Mini. It as been 8 years since I last ran the Mini and since then the field has grown by 10,000 people. The course was crowded when I ran it in 2000; I am trying to imagine what this might be like with 10,000 extra people.

    All to say, take heart. You and me can train for that half marathon for the Fall.

    Ginger, I am sure Chris will agree with me that you have been the model Project recruitment. Your dedication and commitment to the Project's principals are over the top. Your presence is a thing of beauty for all to behold. (both outside and in!)

    Namaste,

    Alison

    ReplyDelete